All's Fair in Love and War
by Cas-Wings
Summary: When Lauren gets returned from Heaven, Crowley discovers Adam isn't as obedient as he seemed... (The sequel to Mr. Crowley. Co-Written with tumblr user crowleyshell.)
1. Hell on Earth

Lauren missed him already... The white walls got on her nerves, the golden gates seemed blinding, and the absence of evil was grating; She felt angry from the fist minute. After a while, began to worry she was losing it, so she counted... Endlessly counted, days, hours, minutes, seconds, doing the tally each day.

Crowley occupied his time with keeping demons in order, whipping Adam into shape, and running hell. After a while, he returned to his old, sadistic, unattached self, becoming an even more powerful king of hell. Soon after heaven had been closed, earth looking similar to what it would have been had the Croatian virus been successful, much to Crowley's satisfaction.

* * *

Lauren got back, ten years later, precisely the same second she had died. She gulped, seeing the destruction around her; Crowley would not be the Crowley she'd known, at all. She wondered if he would want to see her or not.

Walking calmly into his hell based office, Crowley wiped blood splatters from his face, pleased with another successful torture session.

Lauren knocked on the closed door, finding herself, after fifty years of missing him, dreading what she would find. She was weak, pale, tired, and skinny, but at least she didn't have the 'trials sickness' anymore.

Calling for whoever it was to come in, he folded his hands on top of his desk in a position of sophisticated authority.

She pushed the door open with the toe of her shoe, stepping inside. She tried to act calm, collected, but lost it for a second when she saw him.

"Hello love." His cold demeanor never cracked as he motioned her to the chair in front of his desk.

Hurt flickered across her face before obediently sitting in the chair he gestured to.

"You seem... Different." He said pleasantly, expertly ignoring the hurt on her face. He would not get attached again, it was a job hazard.

She put her head in her hands, placing her elbows on her knees and trying desperately to control her breathing.

Seeing her struggle, he got up and stood over her, "Trouble sweetheart?"

She exhaled slowly. "It's nothing, I'm fine." She shouldn't have spoken; as she'd predicted, her voice was weird and wobbly.

He sat next to her and took in her thin, drawn face, "Would you like to talk about it?" The words were not comforting, as they normally would have been spoken by anyone else. Instead they just sounded cold and uncaring, lacking any hint of compassion or sympathy.

"It was just a room." She mumbled, staring at the floor.

"Seems like more than that.." His voice softened ever so slightly, barley noticeable, even to himself.

She didn't notice the change and sighed, "I... There were hallucinations... I think they were hallucinations, anyway..." She frowned.

"About what?" Evil curiosity danced in his eyes, the slight softness disappearing in an instant.

"Being tortured. You were there, being killed in front of me... More torture."

"Sounds like hell..." He scoffed, "I thought heaven was supposed to be pleasant."

She shrugged slightly. "I kept the tally, at first. Then I lost track a bit. I mean, I couldn't tell the days apart, so I counted every second." She rolled up her longs sleeves, exposing the thousands of marks on her skin, placed so close together they almost made her skin black.

Eyebrows raising in surprise, he looked to her pained face, "I really hoped you would come back, all the other demons I have had at my side have been terrible, I've killed everyone I signed up."

"Oh." She looked back at him before looking away.

As he watched her hesitant movements, unbidden memories of the painful night came flooding back, causing his cold demeanor to crack under the weight of the uncontrolled recollections.

Her eyes softened for a second at his dark expression, before remembering what he was and clenching her jaw.

"You seem tense..." He responded to her gaze, smirking as he regained his calm state.

She sighed, looking down at her feet again.

He cleared his throat, "I still need someone at my side..."

She looked up, "In what way?"

"I need someone I can trust and rely on, you are the only one I've found that meet those qualifications."

"Thanks.." The gratitude was half hearted.

"Pleasure's all mine darling.." He said, snapping his fingers and restoring her to a healthy, unmarked state, showing her how much more powerful he had become.

She blinked in surprise, "How did you...?"

"A lot has changed..." He responded, helping her up.

"You think?" She murmured, eyes flicking over him while she thought about the state of the world.

"Like what you've seen?" He could sense her thinking.

She bit her lip, "Yeah.." 'No.' She countered silently to herself.

Smirking, he knew she was lying, but found it unnecessary to make it known, "Let's go, I need to talk to Adam... He currently keeps the world in some sort of ordered chaos."

She pushed a hand through her hair, rolling down her sleeves, "Yes, sir." She didn't like this world any more... Although the reason why was unclear.

Stopping before he reached his door, he turned to face her, "What's wrong?"

"You're back to how you were." She mumbled, "Before you knew me." 'And it hurts.' She added silently once more.

"I don't want to become weak again..." He grumbled.

"You weren't weak."

"What do you mean?" He asked roughly, disgusted by his previous self. Disgusted because he had felt real love for the first time in his entire existence, and it was when he was a demon.

"Look, I get it, okay? You've never been in love before, right?" This was guesswork, "And you think that it makes you weak. It doesn't. Sometimes, it makes you quite the opposite. Because you've got someone to live for. Someone to fight for. So, I get it. You don't know how to deal with this... Deal with love. You stick to things you know about, things you're comfortable with. But love, love makes you uncomfortable, doesn't it? And you read it as weakness, don't you? Well having emotions doesn't make you _weak_." Man, where had that come from? She had just blurted it out really thinking.

Stunned, he stared at her incredulously, "I can't do my job right... Just look what it did to Dean and Castiel..."

"Dean and Cas are stupid, we aren't. Besides, how do you know you _wouldn't_ be able to do your job right?" She was watching his reactions carefully.

"Because after you died I could barley bloody function! I had to have _Adam_, of all people, give me a wake call! I don't want to let myself love if it will just hinder my progress once it ends!" He shouted, eyebrows furrowing in anger, fists clenched.

She forced herself not to flinch at the violent outburst, "What happened to you in your life, hm?" She murmured, almost to herself, "Look, I just... Sorry. Forget I said anything, then... If you're so determined it's going to end, then I can't help, can I?"

Sighing, he raised a hand shaking with anger to her cheek, "I just want to be normal, I like my old self..."

She decided to try once more, "I know... I know you do. But, excuse the cliche phrase, sometimes change is for the better." Her eyes were soft as they held his.

Giving into the emotions he had held back for ten years, he pulled her into a soft kiss before he could stop himself.

She kissed him back tenderly, a feeling of relief sweeping through her; He was still in there.

Pulling back, he ran a thumb along her forearm and smiled with uncharacteristic gentleness, "We need to go talk to Adam now, some demons he controls have been less than compliant lately."

"Okay." She smiled at him slightly, glad to be back beside him.


	2. Rebellion

He exited his office quickly, still feeling slightly uncomfortable before zapping them to the old warehouse.

Lauren inhaled sharply at the surroundings, eyes flickering around quickly while she took in what had changed.

"Adam will be quite short with you..." He informed her, walking towards the warehouse, "He never took a liking to my 'advice'."

She followed him, frowning, "Yeah..."

Entering the large space, they found Adam torturing a demon.

"Having fun are we?" Crowley called in his smooth accent.

Lauren moved to stand by Crowley's side.

Adam looked up from the demon, eyes flickering between the pair. "Oh. _She's_ back." He sneered, sauntering over to them, "What do you want?"

Crowley gave him a warning glare before responding. "It seems some demons have started to rebel, and seeing they're your charge I thought you might have an inclination as to why."

"No idea. I've been trying to stop it." He lied smoothly.

"If you were truly, actively trying to stop it it wouldn't have been going on for a month..." He glared at his defiant form.

"Sorry." He said sarcastically, "I've been busy."

"You should be busy with what I command you." Crowley's hands balled into tight fists.

"I do do what you command me to." He snapped, his stance becoming aggressive.

"If you did, I wouldn't have demons trying to stab me in the back every five bloody minutes!" His voice rose as he stepped aggressively towards Adam.

The other man stepped forward bravely, his face inches away from Crowley's, "Maybe if you weren't doing such a _shit_ job of being King, they wouldn't."

Looking unfazed, Crowley splayed his wrist, slamming Adam's smug face against the ground before stepping on his cheek, "We've had this discussion before, would you like to revisit the topic?"

Adam smirked, he had been planning for this moment for _years_. Shoving away Crowley's foot with one hand, he sprang to his feet, "Yes, I would." He took a step backwards, "Others agree with me. I'd be better as the King. I'd like to think I've got the majority vote. So, step down or I'll make you." He spoke low and fast, directly opposing Crowley while ensuring with his powers the older demon couldn't get closer.

"Well, it looks like we have reached an impasse..." He replied smoothly, rage darkening the room, "Tell you what... You back off this little power trip right now, and I won't fry you in the pit for eternity."

"What makes you think you can beat me, Crowley?" He smirked once more, "What have you got? Some power, a few demons and your whore there. _Oh_, I'm _quaking_, really."

Lauren watched carefully, eyes flicking between the two men.

Crowley unclenched his fist calmly and snapped his fingers, engulfing Adam in hell fire, "And what do you have?" He raised his voice over the crackling flames, "A couple demons throwing a hissy fit? In case you've forgotten, I'm far more powerful than you!"

Adam didn't wince, he laughed, "You think that hurts me!? I'm the _antichrist_, Crowley!"

Mumbling a quick incantation, Crowley snapped holy oil into the mixture, "I'm sure now it does."

Crying out, he grew quickly angry at the pain. He lunged, putting a hand square on Crowley's chest, the suit setting on fire easily.

Snapping his fingers, Crowley doused the flames quickly, "I just got this tailored!" He yelled, slamming him up against a wall.

Adam laughed in his face, shoving him off, "Don't touch me."

"And just who do you think you are?" He put a hand around his throat, unrelenting in his effort.

He slammed a fist into Crowley's knuckles, hearing a sickly snapping sound, "I'm the antichrist, soon to be the King of Hell."

Lauren's frown deepened at the scene before her.

"Sorry, the position has been filled." Crowley growled back, ignoring his broken knuckles.

Lauren stepped forwards in concern, "Crowley, we need to leave." She murmured.

"Oh, the _whore_ makes some sense... I see why you like her." Adam smirked sarcastically.

"I will come after you..." Crowley warned before zapping them to his office.

Lauren immediately took his hand to snap his knuckles back into place, thinking hard.

Wincing slightly, he sat down, anger seeping off of him like venom, "How dare he... How dare he defy me!" Crowley yelled, slamming a vase against the adjacent wall.

Lauren stayed silent, deciding it was best, glad that Adam had waited until she was back to make his move. With this thought, she put a phone to her ear, murmuring numbers and a few sentences to the other person before ending the call.

"Who was that?" He muttered, eyes still flashing with hate.

"Your tailor."

Looking up to her, he couldn't help a slightly grateful look from passing his face.

She smiled slightly and leaned on the edge of his desk, "I told him to put it on priority, should be here soon."

"Thank you love." His words were curt with rage, yet still grateful.

There was a knock at the door, which Lauren let in without hesitation.

The demon entered and went straight to Crowley, handing him a new, pressed suit.

The older demon nodded in approval before snapping it on, "I need something else from you."

The tailor glanced up before lowering his head respectfully, "Yes, sir?"

"Get every single demon that proves to be loyal to the second circle, I have an announcement to make." The command was short, simple, and filled with determination. The demon nodded and disappeared.

"Why is it always a Winchester?" Lauren mused, her face darkening.

"And I thought we had taken care of that problem..." He grumbled, "Well, no matter now, time to rally the forces."

She straightened up from where she'd been leaning on the wall with a nod, "Yeah." She'd been in the military before; she knew how to lead, how to fight in battles.

He sighed and zapped them to the second circle where thousands of demons waited command.

Lauren's eyes flickered over them, counting. "He was right about having more forces... But we've got most of the older demons, so it makes up for the numbers." She murmured into his ear, having to lean in to talk to him.

"Experience pays off..." He mumbled back with slight innuendo, calling everyone to attention.

She nodded with a smirk, standing on her usual side; his right, watching the other demons coolly.

"Listen up." He bellowed in sophisticated anger, "It seems our little Adam has decided to start a rebellion. Lovely, I know. In response, I say we smash him and his puny, inexperienced forces before they even get a chance to fight. If anyone has a problem with this, leave now."

Not one demon in the room left, Crowley's demon had really made sure they were loyal.

"Perfect..." He murmured to Lauren before turning back to the crowd, "I want you all to crush any demon you find that isn't working with us, this little power trip of Adam's won't last."

A wave of nods washed over the crowd as Lauren's lips quirked briefly into a smile.

"Go now, you will all report to Lauren. If the issue requires my attention, I will see to it it's resolved. Are we all clear?" Revenge filled malice darkened his words.

Once more there was a wave of obedient nods.

"Good." He replied to the crowd, turning away quickly, "That was easier than expected..." He commented to Lauren, who now walked beside him.

She nodded as the demons began disappearing. "Yeah, it was..." She murmured thoughtfully, "Do you really think this is just a power trip?"

"Yes... I do. He was simply given too much responsibility, which caused his narcissistic little personality to snap. Trust me, this will be over before it begins." His answer was confident, even prideful.

She frowned, not really agreeing, but kept her doubts to herself. "I think we should still prepare for the worst." She approached carefully.

"What do you suggest?" He looked slightly annoyed.

"Hm... Let me think for a minute."

"As you wish..." He continued walking, enjoying the sights of souls in excruciating pain.

Lauren kept her head lowered, thinking hard before answering. "Well, worst case scenario, I'd guess this would evolve into a full blown civil war. We need to secure a stronghold, somewhere we can use as headquarters."

He smirked at her wording, "Headquarters... Look at you going all James Bond."

"Hey, James Bond is awesome." She protested.

"Always seemed a little too merciful to me." He winked at her, an idea suddenly crossing his mind, "We could use the ninth circle as our base, effectively protecting Lucifer's cage from any forces that may want to use him against us."

"That's good." She nodded, "Plus, the best weapons are forged down there."

He grinned evilly in silent agreement while they entered the ninth circle.


	3. Bloody Battle

"This has lots of advantages actually. We can station demons on each of the layers, and it'll be harder to get to the ninth." She mused, looking around, "Oh, yeah, and I'd suggest something your loyalists can use to identify each other."

"Go on..." He smirked at her intelligence, putting a powerful arm around her shoulders.

She smiled at him before continuing, "Well, you know, like maybe a brand, or some sort of code. Otherwise, it would be pretty easy for the opposing forces to send in spies and things. But a brand would do well. We could probably enchant them to burn hot in the presence of an enemy, or something along those lines."

"I _love_ the way you think..." He repeated himself from earlier, snapping one of the oldest demons, Adramelech, in front of them.

The demon looked at Crowley. "Yes, sir?"

"I need you to take this brand..." He said, snapping in the brand he had used on the Winchesters ten years previous, "And brand every demon in our army." He handed him a piece of ancient looking paper, "Say this during the process to ensure it is a warning signal to our forces, so none can replicate it to send in spies. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

The demon nodded and began to turn away.

"Oh." Crowley called after him, "Make sure it's the left shoulder..." He added, feeling his own scar shift under the expensive shirt he wore.

The demon listened intently before nodding, "Yes sir."

"Good..." He turned away abruptly with a smirk.

The demon disappeared quickly.

Snapping an office up where the lake of fire used to be, Crowley sat comfortably and leaned back in a leather chair, using his powers to get into Adam's head, wherever he was. "_I'm coming for you..._" He growled.

Adam didn't falter in his arrogance, laughing at Crowley, "_Ooh, I'm __terrified__._" He responded with a chuckle.

"_You should be you little twit..._"

"_No, really I am._" He said sarcastically, forcing Crowley out of his head roughly.

Snapping his eyes open, Crowley glared at the emptiness before him.

Lauren appeared next to him a few minutes later.

"Welcome back love.."

"Hey." She smiled slightly, having just been branded.

"Are you alright?" Crowley asked.

"Fine..." She mumbled, glancing at her brand for a second before looking back to him.

"Will you be fine?" Slight concern raised in his voice as he reflected on their current stressful situation.

She smiled reassuringly, "I'm fine princess."

Rolling his eyes, he shuffled through some papers on his desk.

She leaned against the wall, moving one hand to brush it over the brand on her arm, tracing the outline with one finger.

Sighing, he thought hard of ways to outsmart Adam, before his eyes grazed over to the cage.

Lauren watched him warily, following his gaze.

"Hm..." He murmured, a knowing smile crossing his face.

She frowned, narrowing her eyes, "What're you thinking?"

"If I could get Lucifer out and bind him, he would be a powerful weapon against Adam's forces..."

She frowned and shook her head, "With all due respect, I think we should only release Lucifer as a last resort."

"I get your hesitation... But if we bind him he won't be able to overpower us, and we may be able to stop this rebellion before it really begins.. Fear is a powerful thing.." He smiled lecherously.

Her frown only deepened as she thought about it, "But..."

He looked at her in curiosity, awaiting her continuation.

"I just... It's risky. I think it's too risky at this stage. We have the upper hand anyway, and getting Lucifer out is drastic at this point. Drastic, and dangerous for us."

"I'll take you on your word... But if this escalates any more, I will not hesitate." His eyes narrowed in determination.

She frowned but nodded.

"What now?" He glanced to her solemn face.

"I'm just worried, is all."

"No need to worry love, I dealt with Adam's bitch fits for years, why would this be any different?" He smirked.

"I don't know. I just have a really bad feeling about all this... Has he done this before?"

"He's tried... Never really had the guts to go through with it though.." He smirked at the memories.

"Mhm." She nodded, still frowning as she thought.

"Something else on your mind?" He seemed slightly impatient.

"There's always something worth frowning about." She shrugged.

"Can't argue with that.."

She smiled slightly.

Suddenly Adramelech zapped in front of them, looking slightly panicked.

Crowley turned to him calmly, "What is it?"

"Sir.. The rebellion forces are attacking at the gates." He wiped blood splatter from his face.

"They what?" Crowley yelled, getting up quickly.

Lauren blew out a shaky breath before going into her military mode, "Right. How large is the force they're attacking with? How many?"

"It's in the thousands..." He mumbled, backing slightly away from Crowley's rage filled stride.

Lauren swallowed, eyes flickering to Crowley. "Okay. We need to rally as many as we can. Right now." She said, still watching Crowley warily, for confirmation.

Nodding, he gave her the go ahead as he straightened his suit, growing calm and sadistic.

She turned to the other demon, "Let's go."

Zapping them away, Adramelech stood with Crowley and Lauren on a brimstone ledge, looking down at the already bloody battle.

Lauren looked over the opposing side quickly. "How the- Right, okay... We need better weapons, for a start..." She murmured to herself, "We can get them from the weapons cache in the eighth layer... The armor's not particularly good, either... Again, we can get some at the eighth layer..."

"Go." Crowley commanded the two, determined to overlook his forces.

Lauren nodded, and she and the other demon disappeared.

* * *

"Let's hurry, we don't have much time.." Adramelech said, snapping away weapons quickly. Lauren nodded, rapidly clicking her fingers to snap away weapons, armor, and other necessities. Equipping herself with armor she hadn't worn in years, she picked up her old sword. She was fighting in this; she wanted to, and it would boost demon's morale.

"You ready?"

"As I'll ever be..." Adramelech grumbled in a low voice, placing on armor.

* * *

Snapping her fingers again, they both appeared on the edge of the bloodbath taking place.

Rushing forward, Adramelech sliced off another demons head swiftly, catching it in the air before holding it up by it's hair in a yell of triumph to the other demons.

Lauren rolled her eyes at him, lunging and catching a demon square in the chest, her sword slicing straight through it. Jumping, she put one foot on it's chest and pushed off, the demon fell and she swerved sideways to decapitate another one.

Seeing her destruction from a cliff of brimstone above, Crowley smirked and closing his eyes to delve into Adam's mind, "_Should've recruited more experienced forces..._" He communicated calmly.

"_We have what you lack in numbers. They're good enough._" The Winchester didn't lose his self confidence, "_Remember this is only a battle._"

"_We will bury you..._" Crowley growled back, "_And when you are weakened, I will torture you until your begging for mercy._"

"_Sure._" He laughed.

"_You just wait you little bastard.._"

Adam sounded distracted, "_Ooh, your girlfriend's pretty good, isn't she?_"

"_Pride myself on it._" Crowley shot back, angry.

"_Very__ good. She'd be useful on our side..._" Adam replied perversely.

"_Yea, that's gonna happen..._" He scoffed at his ignorance.

"_Mmm, everyone's got a breaking point. But then, there is always mind control..._" Adam responded.

"_Sorry sweetheart, she's protected from that..._" Crowley felt a smirk cross his face as Lauren stabbed her blade through a demon's neck.

"_Shame. I'll just have to torture and kill her then, when I get my hands on her._" Adam promised pridefully.

"_If__ you get your hands on her you cocky bastard._"

"_Oh, I assure you, I will._"

Growling, Crowley cut off the connection.

Lauren was enjoying herself way too much. She liked being extravagant; spinning with the sword, whirling. She was also pretty flexible; jumping off enemies and barrel rolling into others, killing away.

Crowley raised his eyebrows at her skill, enjoying the view as the battle wound down, most of his forces still in tact while Adam's littered the ground.

Lauren grinned, spinning her sword in her hand. She appeared next to Crowley, still grinning widely.

"I love when you get vicious..." He growled, pulling her blood spattered face in for a kiss.

Lauren kissed him back roughly, still wild from the battle, "Thank you princess." She smiled as she pulled away.

"My pleasure..." He grinned, snapping his fingers so all the heads of Adam's forces were stuck on pikes, lining the pathways of hell in victory. "Foolish boy..." He murmured, enjoying the new decorations.

Lauren grinned. "Nice touch." She said appreciatively, sliding her sword into it's sheath at her waist. Turning to Adramelech as he appeared, she ordered, "Collect anything useful from the ground. Weapons, armor, anything..."

The demon nodded and disappeared again.

"I like this commanding side of you..." He kissed her neck roughly, snaking his hands around her waist from behind, "Let's see Adam try and beat us now..."

She shivered slightly at his gesture, "Thanks." She grinned, buzzing from the victory.

"Anytime love..." He zapped them back to his office.

Looking down at her armored form, she thought for a second, "I'm going to go and change. And shower."

"Alright, I'll just be here..." He murmured, sorting through papers.

She nodded, blowing him a sarcastic kiss and disappearing.

Rolling his eyes, his gaze shifted once again to Lucifer's cage.

Lauren reappeared about five minutes later, wearing a black shirt and jeans.

"You look refreshed..." He commented, gaze shifting slightly over to the cage, thinking about the leverage and power.

She nodded, frowning when she followed his gaze.

"Oh don't worry, I'm not going to do anything _stupid._"

"Your definition of stupid is different from my definition of stupid." She shot back, leaning on his desk.

"Oh really? Please, enlighten me." He growled, eyes narrowing.

"Opening the cage at all is stupid. Letting Lucifer out at all. Stupid."

"Not if you do it correctly, I'm not just going to rip him out." He argued back.

"There's a high chance of it going wrong." Her lips creased.

"Not with the right help." He sighed.

"Who's help are we going to get? I just... If something goes wrong, we're screwed. Lucifer would be on Adam's side, and he'd destroy us all."

"You have a point..." He grumbled reluctantly.

She nodded slowly.

"So what do _you _propose we do?" His tone was laced with annoyance.

"We're winning, now, anyway. We could attack whilst his numbers are depleted, but it depends on how he is. Hm, you know him better than I do. Do you think he would be expecting us to attack now?"

"I honestly have no idea, he's never gotten this far..." He said in his smooth accent.

She nodded, "Hey. You play poker, don't you? Like, really well. I've seen you."

"Of course, lying is my specialty..." He winked.

She nodded, smirking slightly, "Well, poker's about reading the _person_, not reading the cards. Couldn't you do that with him? Predict his next move through that technique?"

Grinning at her cunning words, he nodded slowly. Closing his eyes in concentration, he thought back to all the years Adam had been under his control. He was sadistic, but did things impulsively; they could use this to their advantage... "If we provoke him enough, he should come charging right where we want him. With this, he will have no escape and will use most if not all his forces."

Her posture relaxed in agreement "So, provoking him... Hmm..."

"He seemed to take a liking to you... I could use that..." He mused, acting somewhat cold.

She quirked an eyebrow. "You go in and pretend to want to get revenge on me..." He started, thinking aloud.

She narrowed her eyes, listening.

"When he becomes attached, you lead him right into our grasp." Crowley's eyes filled with sadistic revenge at the plan.


	4. Trickery

"R-Right." Lauren looked shaken and nervous.

Seeing her expression, Crowley went and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I won't let anything to happen to you."

"You won't be able to do much when I'm over there chatting up the leader of the opposite army up." She mumbled pessimistically.

"Oh but I will. I'm not gonna send you in alone."

She frowned. "How..?"

"I can persuade the opposite forces..." He said simply.

"Right... So what exactly do I need to do?"

"Just act... Pretend to be loyal, give him correct information that isn't significant, and when I give you the signal, lead him to me." He smiled sadistically.

She nodded. "Well- I need something against you, if he's going to believe me.."

Crowley thought, frowning.

"You could like... publicly flip out on me or something..." She suggested after a moment, hating the idea; every single demon would laugh at her for eternity.

He smiled at the idea, not noticing her discomfort, "Now that I can do... Where should we go?"

She gritted her teeth, time to throw away every scrap of respect she'd ever earned. "I don't know."

"How about in the first circle, most of the demons do their torturing there, and word _does_ travel fast."

"Yeah... Wait-" She pulled him into her to kiss him roughly.

Growling, he bit her bottom lip, wrapping his hands around the soft curve of her hips. "I'll make sure you're safe."

She nodded slowly. "Thanks... I'm just worried..."

"No need to worry darling..." His eyes grew slightly tender as he stroked her cheek.

She couldn't bring herself to smile, looking up at him. "I just... I don't know. Well, my reputation's going to be trashed, isn't it?" She laughed bitterly. "But then there's _him_. I don't want to have to- What if he makes me- I don't know.." She stumbled over her reference to Adam.

"Trust me, if you pull this off your reputation will be stronger than ever." He reassured her. "And I will make sure you get interrupted by someone if he does propose... _That_." He sneered at the thought.

She swallowed and nodded. "Yeah... I guess..."

He kissed her again, softly. "I'm not going to lose you again."

She held onto him. "I'll try not to die."

"I won't let you die." He said solemnly, pulling her into a tight embrace.

She hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go as she buried her face in his chest. "Love you, princess." She said quietly.

"Love you too darling..." He smirked at the comment, kissing the top of her head.

She pulled away slightly. "This plan is gross, just so you know. He's gross. I don't..." She took a deep breath. "I can do this. I can do this."

"Tell me about it..." He rolled his eyes at the thought of Adam's smug face.

"Oh god I can't do this.." She mumbled, panicking for a second.

"Shh..." He stroked her hair.

She shook lightly for a minute or two before she forced herself to calm down.

"I'll be watching your back the whole time." He tried to reassure her.

It didn't really help, she still felt alone. "Right.. Right.. Okay."

Sighing, he zapped them to the outer edge of the first circle.

Lauren mumbled some trash into his ear, loud enough for close demons to detect.

Eyes narrowing in anger, Crowley glared at her. "Respect..." This attracted more attention.

"Why should I?" She snapped back. She was a good actress, which was a very good thing considering what she had to do.

"Because I am your superior and I will not tolerate disrespect..." He growled, stepping forward.

"I thought I was somewhat equal." She snarled back, glaring defiantly at him.

Scoffing, he grabbed her hair roughly, "You will never be equal to me." By now, most of the demons had turned to watch.

She struggled to pull away from his hand. "Oh yeah? Why's that? Cause you're a grade A asshole?"

He darkened every place around him as he slammed her against a wall with demonic power, glaring up at her with rage in his every move. "You watch your whore mouth!"

"Why? You know it's true!" She struggled against his power.

Slamming her down to the ground, Crowley dug a knee into her back and looked down at her sadistically. "Where is this coming from hmm? When did you decide to get so bold?"

"Since I realized we're losing!" Lauren growled, 'trying' to move.

"Losing?" He laughed in her face. "Oh far from it sweetheart!" He slammed her back into the wall. "But if you're so insistent, why don't you just run to Adam!"

"Fine! I will!" She pushed him off with 'great' difficulty.

He stood in place, watching her go as the room darkened more with his acted anger. "If you ever come back, I will not hesitate to end your life."

"I'm terrified." She growled sarcastically, disappearing.

Crowley turned to the demons, who were now watching in fear. "Anyone else care to join her?" He shouted.

The demons shook their heads vigorously, backing away.

* * *

Lauren reappeared outside the old warehouse and began to walk slowly towards it, keeping her face displaying the correct emotions. The demons at the front growled, stepping forward defensively. She put her hands up in surrender. "Please.. I'm not going to kill anyone..." She mumbled.

"Sure..." The taller one sneered, advancing towards her.

She backed away. "I swear. I swear. Crowley just frigging flipped out on me. He's an asshole..."

Surprise registering on his face, the demon relaxed a bit. "_You're_ the one he bitched at?"

Lauren nodded.

Adam suddenly appeared from the warehouse, a smirk on his face. "Well... Look who's here. Running from an ex?"

"Pretty much." She sighed. "Well, I've finally seen the metaphorical light. He's a douche, seriously."

"Tell me about it... But how do I know I can trust you?" Adam eyed her warily.

She looked at him helplessly. "What can I do?"

"Prove me your loyalty."

"How?"

"Tell me some 'state secrets'..." He smiled sweetly.

"Our stronghold is the ninth layer." She began, before telling him exactly how many demons they had. She looked at him, wondering if he would want more.

Listening with interest, Adam stepped aside, bidding her entrance.

Lauren brushed past him as she walked inside.

"So now you've turned to my side.. Just like that?" He closed the door behind them.

"Pretty much... I've been thinking about it for a while, though.."

"Well then..." The Winchester grinned behind her, stepping close, "We're happy to have you."

She glanced at him behind her. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He winked at her before sitting behind a large desk, placing his feet immaturely upon it.

She quirked an eyebrow at him before smirking, leaning back on the wall.

"So, since you know Crowley so well, what will he do next?"

She thought for a minute. "Oh, he'll be procrastinating. Waiting for the right moment to attack."

"Well I say we go right in and attack him while he's down." Adam smiled.

She frowned. "Not good. He's not 'down' at all."

"What do you mean?" His eyes narrowed.

"That battle. His forces are barely dented. He lost next to no one."

Frowning, he looked at her. "Any suggestions? You're not here to just look pretty."

"I'd wait." She shrugged, ignoring the comment with great difficulty. "People in his army will begin turning against him, probably. Just wait for a bit, then  
if the status hasn't changed go in all guns blazing."

"Sounds good..." He replied, drinking a beer. "Want one?"

'No. Ew.' She thought with an internal grimace. "Yeah." She smiled back at him falsely.

He handed her a beer. "I have so much more power than him, the bastard doesn't even know..." He shook his head.

She took a sip, hating the light taste. "How powerful _are_ you?"

"More powerful than him..." Pride glinted in his eyes. "I _am_ the antichrist..."

She smirked. "That's awesome, by the way."

His chest swelled slightly with pride. "Thanks, cutie."

"No problem." She smiled, hating the nickname.

He put a hand on her knee, smiling, "You are pretty for a demon..." His smile turned to a smirk.

Forcing down the repulsion, she smirked slightly back. "Thanks. You're handsome, for a Winchester."

He gave her a suggestive once over and ran his hand up her thigh before a demon burst in, one of Crowley's spies.

"Sir.. We might have a problem." He lied smoothly.

Relief flooded through Lauren, but she didn't let it show. "What's up?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"There are signs of attack on the west coast." The demon informed.

Lauren looked back at Adam. "That... You should probably go check it out."

"Really?" He looked to her sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes in response, fed up with his antics.

Once he left, Crowley spoke to her in her head. '_I'm right here with you love._'

'_That's reassuring._' She replied, not a hint of sarcasm in her tone. '_Thanks for that..._'

'_Anything darling..._' He smiled to himself through the communication.

'_So, what exactly do you need me to do next_?'

'_Tell him that I'm planning an attack on the east coast, where most of his forces are stationed. Tell him I'll be there, and he can go and kill me himself._' The smirk could almost be heard in his voice.

'_Okay. Be careful, though, princess._'

'_I always am darling..._'

Adam walked back in abruptly, looking angry. "False alarm..." He grumbled.

"Really?" She frowned. "Well I've got something that might cheer you up."

"Oh really?" He smirked over to her.

"I was thinking. Crowley, if he attacks, will go himself..." She began.

"How do you know?" Evil interest sparked in his eyes.

"I know Crowley. He's an arrogant son of a bitch. He'll go, because he thinks he'll be able to kill whoever crosses his path."

"Sounds about right..." He mused. "When do you think he'll attack?"

She frowned. "Soon... He'll go where you've got most of your forces.."

He thought for a second. "The east coast..."

"Right." She answered.

"We need to go there, soon, I want his head."

"I can see why. Let's get moving, then..." Lauren trailed off.

Adam zapped them to the empty, run down city of Chicago, already tasting Crowley's blood.


	5. Blessed Purgatory

"And they wonder why I placed most of my forces here..." Adam smirked.

Lauren smirked back at him, hoping Crowley was sure of himself. Kicking a can, she watched it clatter across the empty street, the sound eerie in the silence.

"Shall we?" He rubbed his palms together, walking forward with confidence towards an abandoned field.

She quirked an eyebrow as she followed him.

Standing in the middle of the field, he winked at her as all his forces surrounded them in the blink of an eye.

"Impressive." It wasn't a lie, exactly; more of a half truth. The numbers were impressive, sure, but the demons individually weren't.

Looking around, Adam's chest swelled with pride at the compliment before seeing Crowley across the field.

Lauren feigned anger and distress. "Crap."

"Oh nothing to worry about..." Adam smiled, thinking Crowley was alone.

She piped up a bit. "He's alone. I'm pretty sure you can take him."

"Why would he come here alone..." He looked suspicious.

She gave Crowley a mocking look from across the landscape. "Because he's Crowley. He thinks he's invincible."

"Please..." Adam scoffed, motioning for his forces to back down.

Eyes flickering briefly to Crowley, she said, "The sooner the better, I think, is wisest."

"I concur..." He sauntered towards Crowley. "Here for surrender, big boy?"

Crowley simply stayed calm, smiling pleasantly.

Lauren, unsure of what to do for the moment, stayed behind Adam.

"Well come on, lets do this..." He motioned for Lauren to move on Crowley.  
Lauren smirked slightly, taking the opportunity she had to give Adam a swift kick in the back of his knees, hearing a sick snapping sound. Jumping quickly forwards to Crowley's side, she faced the Winchester. "Sorry, honey." She grinned.

Crying out in pain, Adam fell to his knees before a realizing anger darkened his eyes. "You bitch... You think you can take me now, with all my forces surrounding you?" He laughed wickedly.

Lauren laughed back. "How stupid do you think we are?"

"Pretty stupid..." He gritted his teeth as Crowley twisted his arm with demonic force.

Lauren laughed harder. "I think you'll find _we're_ surrounding _you_."

Paling, he looked around to see Crowley's small yet mighty forces advancing around them.

Lauren's laugh turned into a giggle for a few seconds. "I ask you again, how _stupid_ do you think we are? What, did you think I wanted _you_? Oh, how easy it must be to be so simpleminded."

Crowley looked over to her, "Did you seriously just _giggle_?" He rolled his eyes before Adam grabbed onto Lauren's ankle, pulling her into his knife wielding grasp.

"Back down..." Adam tried to command.

Lauren, not seeming bothered by the knife, put one hand on his wrist to begin squeezing. "Hey, I've been told I have a sexy giggle, actually."

Crowley smirked, "Just let her go, you'll never win.." He looked pleased as his forces began to dominate Adam's.

"Never..." He growled back, cutting into Lauren's throat.

Lauren tightened her hand, struggling not to wince. She could always try to overpower him. Leaning backwards into him to get the knife away from her  
throat, she took a couple deep breaths.

"Oh isn't that cute, you're trying to be tough..." Adam licked the shell of her ear, grinning at Crowley.

She grimaced, jerking her head away from him. "That's just gross." "No the fact you went for that," He motioned to Crowley, "Is gross. It's _sickening_..."

Crowley growled, reaching for Adams short hair.

"He's a lot better than you are." She said, eyes flickering to Crowley briefly. "In every respect, he's better than you."

"Please..." Adam scoffed, worry entering his eyes as his forces diminished by the second.

Lauren giggled evilly, a weird contrast between the girlish sound and why she was laughing. "It's true."

Adam's eyebrows furrowed in anger as he stabbed the blade into her exposed stomach, not able to take any more criticism.

"No!" Crowley shouted, flinging Adam backwards with as much power as he could muster.

Lauren gasped, unable to stop her knees buckling. Hitting the floor, she fumbled her hands towards her stomach. "No... Nononono..." She couldn't leave Crowley, not again... She couldn't...

Using all his power to pin Adam to the ground, the older demon was unable to heal her. Instead, concern flooded his face as he viciously ripped the blade out, pressing his hand to the bleeding wound.

Lauren's breaths kept hitching in her throat. "C-Crowley, I can't- N-No..."

"You won't die, I won't let you..." He breathed out, releasing Adam before attempting to heal her, failing.

"Sorry boss, I stabbed her with a demon blade. Guarded against your power.." With the smug comment, Adam disappeared.

"We need help..." Crowley murmured, watching her pale.

She couldn't stop the whimper rising in her throat. "H-How- What do I- No..."

He zapped them away to a small house in an abandoned neighborhood in Kansas, the only place he knew wasn't crawling with spies. Scooping her up,  
he slammed the front door open with his powers, looking to a surprised Dean.

Dean stared blankly at him. "What- I thought she- How did she- I mean, what- why are you here?" He grappled for a weapon, any weapon.

"I need help..." He growled, motioning to Lauren who was still bleeding.

"What do you expect me to do?" Dean slowed his search.

"You know more about battle wounds than me, so help her... Or have Castiel so it, I don't care!" Crowley looked, angry and concerned, towards the hunter.

Dean frowned and nodded slowly, heading back inside quickly and gesturing for Crowley to follow.

Lauren, by this point, was putting all her energy into staying alive, keeping her breathing steady and letting her head loll against Crowley's chest.

Following Dean, Crowley set her gently on top of the kitchen table. "Just breath darling, I'm here..."

She grabbed his hand with what little strength she had. "I know." She breathed.

Dean came back in quickly, dropping a few tools onto the table next to Lauren.

"Hurry..." Crowley commanded insistently.

Dean nodded quickly, not wanting any harm to him or Cas, and began peeling away Lauren's bloody shirt, picking up a bottle of whiskey.

"Classy..." The older demon murmured at Dean's choice in alcohol, despite their situation.

Dean tipped it over her stomach, and Lauren cried out at the immediate burning of the alcohol.

Crowley stroked her hair softly, smirking as a shocked Castiel stood at the doorway.

Castiel frowned at the situation once he got over his surprise, moving forwards to stand next to Dean and looking over the wound. His frown deepened, and Dean gave him a small shrug.

"Will she live?" The ex-hunter asked insistently.

"I doubt it." Castiel said in a monotone.

Lauren breathed out slowly, shaking her head. She couldn't leave him. Not again. Not forever.

Dean prodded at her stomach, beginning to stitch despite Castiel's verdict.

Crowley frowned at the thought of Lauren spending eternity in purgatory.

"She might live." Castiel said, still emotionless.

"Well that was a change in attitude..." Crowley mumbled to the fallen angel, rolling his eyes in an attempt to hide his strong emotion towards Lauren.

Castiel was trying to decipher Crowley. "Do you love her?" He asked suddenly.

"None of your business feathers..." He grumbled back.

"That's a yes." Castiel said, as Lauren opened her eyes suddenly.

Turning around, Crowley looked down intently into her eyes.

She stared back up at him with resigned eyes. "Don't- Do- anything- stupid." She said, through heavy breaths.

"What. No, you can't..." He tried to remain emotionless.

She smiled weakly. "It's okay, princess."

He looked to Dean, angry. "She can't die, fix this!"

Dean looked at him helplessly. "I can't! It's a fatal wound!" His eyes slowly looked to Lauren, who was taking shallow breaths.

"I'll come get you.. Some way, I'll help you, I won't let you suffer anymore..." Crowley promised.

Her eyes seemed to turn watery, and she shook her head slowly. Finding a tiny reserve of energy, she managed to mumble, "That counts as stupid, you know... It was going so well, wasn't it? It's not fair, this. Not at all. We won and now I'm dying. It's not fair, I mean I- I need to shut up. I need better last words..." The energy melted away as quickly as it had come, and her breathing got shallower. "I love you." She breathed.

Wiping the tear that trailed down the side of her face, Crowley kissed her cheek tenderly. "I love you too..." He murmured, pain welling in his chest as he fought even harder to remain emotionless at the heart wrenching scene he found before him. Raising his head, he saw her chest rise and fall once before ceasing to move. "How could this happen when I only just got her back?" He yelled, converting his uncomfortable sadness into anger as he threw the bottle of whiskey to the floor, shattering it.

Castiel and Dean both backed away from him, pressing up against the kitchen cabinet and staying silent. Both of them knew what he was going through. Both of them also hated him, but they wouldn't wish this on anyone.

Crowley leaned against the wall, taking deep, shuddering breaths. "I need to get her back..."

"How?" Castiel asked slowly.

"I don't bloody know!" His mood changed quickly, reverting to anger in his vulnerability.

Castiel gulped, glancing at Dean and the both of them staying silent.

Crowley sighed, already thinking of solutions.

The other two men stayed silent and still, watching him warily.

He growled, unable to find anything. "Angel! Can't you help at all?"

"I've never heard of a demon coming back from the dead before." He said bluntly.

"Find out..."

"How?" Dean answered, stepping forwards. "You're the one who practically runs the world. Why can't you find out?"

"Because three fourths of my demons have rebelled with your brother and I have a price on my head." He took a menacing step forward.

"So? It's not our problem that your girlfriend's dead." Dean answered defiantly.

"At the moment you two are the only ones who even have a remote connection to heaven's secrets... If you don't comply, I will be forced to make you." His fists balled in anger.

"We had a deal. You can't break it, and Cas just told you he doesn't know."

"We never had a deal concerning Sam." He growled back. "And little Cassie must have some way, thinking for five minutes does not qualify as not knowing."

"It does with Cas." Dean countered. "If he says he doesn't know, he doesn't know."

"Then find out." Crowley took another step forward.

Dean glared at him. "_You_ find out. It's nothing to do with me."  
"I realize it has nothing to do with you, but I run things now. So when I say_ go_, you go. If you won't, I'll make sure Sam is ten times more miserable than he already is."

"He's in _Hell_. I doubt he's going to care whether he's in a little pain, or a lot of pain." Dean's eyes betrayed him, showing the pain and worry.

"Oh trust me... There's a difference." Crowley glared.

"If you care about her so much do it yourself."

"I already told you I have a price on my head... Have you even been listening?"

"Yes. But still. I don't care about your problems, Crowley. It's not our responsibility. You got her killed, I'm assuming, so you deal with the  
consequences."

His fist made swift contact with Dean's jaw, "You think I got her killed? Just for that I'm going to make sure Sam is in so much pain he will never recover!"

"Sorry, enlighten me! What happened back there, Crowley?!" Dean spit blood.

"I was trying to get your idiot brother to stop his pathetic rebellion!" He slammed Dean's head into the wall.

"It's hardly my fault what he's doing! You pulled him out of Hell! This is all on you and that bitch! You made this mess, all of it! You need to deal with it!" Dean spluttered, too angry and shocked from being slammed into the wall to stop himself.

Narrowing his eyes, Crowley stepped back. "You will help me 'deal with it'."

Castiel silenced Dean by stepping forward to speak. "Crowley, we can't help you."

"Funny, you seemed pretty adept in problem solving back when you were hunting."

"Exactly. We're _not_ hunting any more."

"You can never stop hunting, we all know that. Consider this your wake up call." Crowley had now turned his usual cold and sadistic self, confidence and sophistication present in his every action.

"We stopped hunting for ten years. Just leave, Crowley. You've got no leverage on us and we're not going to help you."

"I'll just get Sammy to do it. I'm sure he'll comply if it gets him out of Hell... Under my command and rule of course." He began to walk away.

"Crowley don't.." Dean mumbled. "Why can't you let anyone be happy?"

"There's no such thing as long lasting true happiness, the sooner you learn that the sooner you can deal with what life throws at you."

"You don't sound like you're dealing with your girlfriend being dead on a table behind you particularly well."

"Lesson learned..." He mumbled. "I let myself be reeled into false happiness, and look where it ended me."

"Whoa, dude. That's harsh." Dean said, genuinely surprised despite everything.

"So shall your pain be when you realize this." Crowley growled over his shoulder.

"Considering her last words were 'I love you', that was harsh." He repeated, before snapping out of his state of shock.

Rolling his eyes, Crowley fought inwardly to keep an emotionless face while he was reminded of her soft words.

Dean frowned. "She was dying and she was worried about _you_. Crowley, she loved you, and now you're doing this? Seriously?"

"To get her back! Why bloody else would I be doing this?" He whipped around, anger once again darkening the room except for the place where Lauren's body lay. This part of the room was left strangely untouched by the black, angry shadows.

Dean frowned. "You don't need to act like she wasn't important to you."

"I'm not acting like she wasn't important to me, because I'm trying to get your bloody help. Me, of all people, needs help from a Winchester because of another Winchester... _Pathetic_, really."

"You're all cold and crap. Talking about false happiness and everything."

Crowley sighed. "It never lasts... Did you really expect me to be all emotionally in touch? _Really_?

"Whatever. We're not helping you."

Crowley simply narrowed his eyes and turned away, zapping back to hell in front of Sam.

Sam looked up weakly. "Wha' do you wan'?" He slurred.

"I need your hunting skills up top, since your brother and his lover won't comply."

"Huh?"

He snapped him down from the rack, restoring his physical health. "I have a demon of mine stuck in purgatory because of your brother Adam, the antichrist. She needs to get out, and I can't search for a way myself, seeing as three fourths of hells army is after my head. Therefore, here we are, working together against your brother."

"Why does she need to get out?" Sam asked, frowning at his sudden restored state in wonder. "What's so special about her?"

"She's the only one I can really trust and depend on to help me run this war." He replied shortly.

"Oh."

"Time to go topside, Moose." Crowley grinned lecherously, snapping them up to Dean and Castiel's house.

He figured it was the only safe place he could go that wasn't crawling with enemy demons.

Dean backed into Castiel's arms as he brother appeared. Sam didn't look at him, at all.

"Have fun with the reunion..." Crowley grinned, sitting himself down.

No one in the room spoke, Sam and Dean refusing to look at each other.

Rolling his eyes, Crowley had Sam's physical appearance return to what it had been before. "Never knew you two could be so shallow..."

Once again, in typical Winchester style, the brothers remained silent. They both stared at the floor, ignoring Crowley.

Crowley smirked over at Castiel, "Humans right? Oh wait..." He mocked.

Castiel shrugged, but otherwise didn't say anything.

He shook his head, sitting back in the chair. "Come on Sam, start your little research." He gave a small wave towards the laptop.

"Don't you have things to be doing?" Dean snapped at Crowley.

"You mean besides hiding from your over-dramatic brother? No." He answered flatly, snapping Lauren's body away to his office before pouring a glass of Craig.

"So why can't you do the damn research?" Dean growled.

"You hunters seem so adept, I figured why not. Besides, Hell doesn't run itself."

"Clearly neither do you." He snapped.

Crowley simply snapped his fingers in response, causing Dean to go mute.

Dean glared at him, and Castiel tightened his arms around Dean's torso.

"Oh don't get all up in arms feathers, I could have done a lot worse..."

Castiel glared at him now, too.

Sam glanced up. "Found something."

Grabbing the laptop, Crowley scanned the ancient lettering, slowly translating the text.

"What does it say?" Sam asked, half interested.

"It says a demon can get out because of the slight human spark that remains in them, but it comes at a large sum..." He mumbled, translating carefully.

"What is it?"

"It says that to get out, the demon must take all purgatory souls in, including the Leviathan." Crowley's face grew angry at the name.

"Oh."

"Yes... Oh. It says to contact the demon, you must preform a sacrifice ritual using someone they despise..." Finishing the text, he grinned evilly up at Sam. "Looks like I have that part down."

"Wait, but..!" He mumbled frantically.

Rolling his eyes, Crowley shut the laptop roughly. "It's not like anything's gonna change, you'll just go back to your normal life in hell."

"Great..." Sam choked back a sob, worn and frayed from the years.

"Yes, I know Hell is such a_ lovely_ spot.. Decorated it myself." Crowley smirked.

"It's awful." Sam forced down the lump in his throat.

Crowley wordlessly stepped forward towards the former hunters large form, who stayed still. There wasn't much point being difficult, really.  
"Just lay on the table, the sacrifice has to be in the presence of grief... I think Dean and Castiel should suffice." He snapped his fingers, causing a large, ancient blade to fall in his hand.

"W-What?" He said, laying down slowly onto the table. "Well I don't think seeing your brother dying for a demonic sacrifice would be very pleasing now would it?"

"Well no, but..." Sam protested.

"But what?" His eyes glinted, taking joy in the sad and confused look.

"Nothing. How does this even work, anyway?"

"I say the spell, stab the blade in your heart, and the connection should be established. Painful, sad, yet oh so simple." He smirked.

"Get on with it." He snapped.

"So eager... Do you miss Agares _that_ much already?" He put on a false sympathetic look in referral to Sam's torturer.

"Crowley just get on with it." He snapped again.

"As you wish..." He held up the knife and began to recite the spell.

"In umbra dolor  
Hunc mucrone facit intinges  
Odiosae in corde."

The blade was plunged into Sam's chest.

"Vermiculus sanguinem fluere iam libera  
Aperiens ianuam  
Benedicta Purgatorio!"

When the spell was finished, a bright light flowed from Sam's chest into Crowley's, establishing the connection to Lauren.

Sam yelped but died within seconds.

"Well this is different..." Crowley murmured, looking around. His vision was covered in a haze, the room slowly disappearing around him to reveal the dark shadows of Purgatory's forest.

**((In case you guys were curious what the spell translates to:**

**In the shadow of grief**  
**This blade does plunge**  
**Into the heart of the hated one**

**Crimson blood shall now flow free**  
**Opening the door**  
**Blessed Purgatory**

**Thank you guys so much for all the support, user and guest reviews alike. I felt bad for having you guys wait so long for an update, school finals and all, so I made this chapter extra long. Hope you enjoyed it!))**


	6. Collection

Lauren promptly fell out of a tree, landing sprawled at the bottom. "Shit!"

Offering her a hand, Crowley smiled weakly at her battered form.

Her jaw dropped. "What're you- You're not dead, are you? No.. no, you're not that stupid, right? Oh crap, I'm insane. You're not real. I'm insane. Crap." She blurted in a jumbled rush, staring up at him.

Cupping each side of her face, Crowley looked at her intently. "You're not insane, love, and I'm not dead... Just did a bit of a spell is all." He glanced around, watching the remnants of Dean's living room disappear.

She blinked, looking at him. "You're very convincing." She mumbled, sure he was a hallucination. "Well, at least when I get torn to pieces in here I won't be alone."

Rolling his eyes, he delivered a swift kick to the back of her knee, knocking her to the ground. "Real enough for you?" He stood over her with a smirk.

She glared at him. "You're an asshole. But I don't know." She rolled up onto her elbows, her legs straight out in front of her. "I might just be completely mental. Probably. You know, I was half gone when I was alive, and it seems like I've been in here for months."

His smirk widened into a knowing grin as he pulled her up from the ground. "I know how to get you out."

"How?" She still wasn't convinced it was really him, but she figured she may as well go along with it.

"You have to collect all the souls in purgatory using this spell." He handed her a piece of paper. "The only problem is you have to bring back the Leviathan."

"There's always a catch..." She mumbled, looking down at the spell.

He nodded, rolling his eyes in agreement.

She looked at him, and suddenly, on a whim, used his shoulders to vault herself upwards and wrap her legs around him. In the same second, she pressed her mouth roughly against his.

Growling with satisfaction, he kissed her back roughly, pressing her against a tree.

She held his head, a low groan forming in her throat as she tightened her legs. Pulling away for a second, she breathed out slowly, "Oh. It is you. Oops."

"Just had to be sure didn't we?" He mumbled, biting her earlobe gently.

She shivered, her hands locking into his hair. "Well, I'm very imaginative. Plus, if there was one thing I would dream up to help me get through this, it'd be you." She added, curiously in touch with her emotions from being in Purgatory.

"I'm touched.. Really." Slight sarcasm laced his tone as he left a small kiss on her neck.

She grinned. "I'm actually being serious. Which is weird. I don't know... I feel like I'm on drugs or something." He pulled back and looked to her eyes.

"Well in that case I'm glad I can help you through this, I need my best demon topside."

She smiled at him, resting her forehead against his. "First we need to plan." She murmured.

"We always need to plan..." He mumbled back, sitting them both down on a tree stump reminiscent of the first night they worked together.

"This feels familiar." She said quietly, leaning into his side. "Okay... What exactly does the spell say?"

"Ego in hoc mundo abhorrentes  
Homo scintillam gratiae humanam  
Ardet intus clarus ab alto lumen purum  
Et hoc mihi licet nunc

Sanguine hoc facerem misce  
Quorundam intueri oportet  
Dimitte me, iam ex hoc loco,  
Acceptis alias animas in licencia accepta, alterius animae in gratia."

He looked up from the paper. "Which roughly translates into,

In this world I am misplaced  
A human spark, a human grace  
Burns bright within me, deep pure light  
I take this now and make it right

With this blood I do mix  
The souls of others bound to fix  
Release me now from this place  
Taking other souls in leave, taking other souls in grace...

Complicated and wordy, just like I like my spells." He smirked.

She grimaced at the incantation, catching his hand to fiddle with it as she thought. "Hm... Well, we need a way to get the Leviathan out of me before I go boom."

"Well according to the spell and it's instructions, we must get a vile of vampire, Leviathan, demon, angel, and rugaru blood.

She nodded, frowning. "Okay... So that means we're going to have to deal with them _and _Adam when we get back." She didn't know why, but thinking about him her uncomfortable. _Really_ uncomfortable.

"I'm not happy with it either.." Crowley murmured, placing an arm around her waist.

She leaned into him gratefully, pressing herself into his side. "Just... I don't know."

"Don't worry yourself, love, it's not going to do us any good. Let's just focus on collecting all their blood." He smiled down at her slightly. She nodded.

"...Alright. Um, the angel and Leviathan is going to be hardest to get. The vampire'll be easy; there's plenty of them in here, same with the rugaru. and demon is pretty obvious."

"Sounds good.. Let's go hunt some vampire." He smiled at the thought, pulling out a large knife.

She smirked at him, but said nothing as she got up.

Crowley began to walk in through the forest, ever attentive to his surroundings.

Quickening in her step as she followed, Lauren hesitated before jogging back to where she had been and catching up with him holding a machete.

"Hey, are you seriously going to hunt?"

"Why not? It's not like I don't enjoy killing things."

She shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. "Just... you're so out of place here." She murmured. "Yes it's a little too dirty for me." He looked around with a pompous air.

"Like, you in your pristine suit and your love for all things expensive. In the middle of Purgatory, with the scum of the universe inside. It's really weird."

"Gotta go outside of your comfort zone when you're the king of hell sweetheart."

She shrugged, not looking at him as her eyes permanently scanned the area around them; she'd been like this before he'd come, but now her self  
preservation had been upgraded to being protective over him.

Hearing a rustle in front of them, Crowley stepped forward despite Lauren's defensive stance.

Lauren's usual subtlety went out the window, because she was in Purgatory. She moved around Crowley to put herself directly in front of him, tensing and listening.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, seven vampires circled them, as if they were hunting in a pack. "Oh, a party... How pleasant." Crowley smiled sweetly at the eyes shooting daggers his way.

Lauren growled, eyes flickering between the different vampires. "This is going to be so much _fun_." She purred, sounding hardly anything like herself.

Crowley smiled at the almost seductive purr in her tone, stepping forward to combat a vampire after he placed another knife into Lauren's waiting hand.

Lauren flipped it once before lunging at a vampire, dodging another and swiftly decapitating the first.

Crowley unknowingly mimicked her movements as they fought back to back, beheading the clan of vampires with swift diligence.

Lauren took out the last one easily, before swiping a hand over her face in an attempt to remove the numerous blood splatters that had accumulated.

It didn't really work; she only smudged the blood further. "You alright?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"Perfect." He replied with a lecherous grin, dabbing a spot of blood off his suit before handing Lauren his handkerchief once more.

She took it gratefully, cleaning off her face more thoroughly. "That was fun." She smirked. "It's not half as bad here when I've got you."

"Glad to be of help." He gave her a light kiss, tasting the slight iron of vampire blood.

She smiled, kissing him back and using her tongue to swipe away a few specks of blood from the corner of his mouth.

He smiled back, looking at the corpses below them. "Time to pay up boys..." He took a vile out of his inner jacket pocket and handed it to Lauren.

Kneeling next to one of the bodies, Lauren expertly took the required blood before straightening up again. "One down..."

"Four to go..." He finished. "Now how about we get the demon out of the way while we're at it?" He pulled another vile from his dark suit.

She nodded. "Fair point." Putting one of the two knives she was holding between her teeth, she took the vial softly out of his hand, using her own free hand to slit open her forearm and collect the blood.

When she was finished, Crowley wrapped a bandage around her arm quickly, annoyed his healing powers were diminished in the haze of the Purgatory spell.

Lauren gave him a slight smile, putting the knife inside her jacket. "Thanks. We should keep moving and hope that whatever we encounter next will be one of the things on our shopping list."

"Hopefully..." He shot her a smirk at the shopping comment. "You are such a girl sometimes."

"Hey, who's the one in the poncey suit?" She shot back, smirking teasingly.

"Armani is not 'poncey'." He shot back with a half serious glare.

"Calm down, chuckles. You know I love the suit."

Rolling his eyes, Crowley snaked an arm around her waist, "You're starting to sound more and more like Gabriel, don't make me fix it."

"Ew, am I...?" She grimaced. "Sorry."

"Not to worry, I'll only hold it against you for the rest of eternity." He gave her a wink.

She smirked. "Not long, then?"

"Underestimating eternity now are we? I swear your short stay in purgatory has made you rather dull."

"You try spending, like..." She hesitated. "I don't know how long I've been here for..." The fear showed on her face for a split second before she masked it. "You'd be dull, too." She finished too quickly.

Noticing the hurt on her face, he stopped and pulled her close. "I'll get you out of here soon love.." He kissed her temple.

She breathed out slowly. "I know you will. Thank you." She said quietly, looking up at him.

"My pleasure darling." He smiled down at her. Lauren smiled softly back at him for a second before saying, "Oh, yeah, I should warn you. The temperature is really weird in here. One day it's boiling hot, and the next it's freezing. Sometimes it changes from hour to hour, as well."

"Thanks for the warning, darling." He kissed her before pulling away and beginning to walk again, searching for a rugaru.

Following after a second, she drew level with him again to walk by his side, her eyes resuming their usual routine of flicking from left to right repeatedly.

* * *

Sighing with boredom after an hour, Crowley sat on the ground in front of a tree. "This has been useless..."

Lauren looked down at him. "Tell me about it." She murmured. "You could always just stay here and I'll go looking. But it's getting dark now, and I advise we stay in one place for the night."

"Alright, let's just stay here then... I don't want you going off alone." Concern flooded his eyes as darkness fell quickly.  
Lauren sat down next to him. "If you hear anything, don't turn to look... Stay quiet and very still." She murmured softly, shivering slightly; it was going to be a cold night.

"Whatever you say..." He mumbled back, pulling her torso into the outer layers of his suit, allowing her to rest on his chest.

She leaned into him, grateful for a source of heat as well as comfort, the scent of scotch and expensive aftershave filling her senses. "Thank you. For doing all this."

"All for you, love." He settled back into the tree trunk.

She relaxed against him, a few distant howls piercing the silence.

"Erie..." He smirked.

She buried her face in his chest as a few more howls rang out. "They're weird, those things. Creepy." She murmured into his shirt. "This is so weird." She announced suddenly.

"What?" He looked down to her face, a string of hair falling slightly over her face before he reached down and brushed it away.

She smiled slightly at his hand, before looking up at him to meet his eyes. "It's just... You being here and not even doing much, just being here, makes everything seem okay. Better. I don't know how you do it, but you do."

"It must be my prowess..." He winked, silently appreciating the praise and compliment.

She rolled her eyes. "If that's what you want to believe, princess."

Giving her a light smack on the side of her head, he began to drift into a zoned out state, not trusting himself to go unconscious.

"You're an ass." She mumbled, not resting at all. Instead, she stayed tense and alert, protective over him more than anything else; she stayed pressed against him, eyes flickering around the absolute darkness warily.

* * *

A few hours later, Crowley roused himself to full alertness to see Lauren remaining awake. "Any problems?" He murmured, stroking her forearm.

"No." She shook her head. "But then, it's only been a few hours." She spoke in a hushed whisper, letting her head fall briefly onto his chest. "The wolf-things haven't showed yet. But they will."

"Wolf things?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You_ really_ know how to articulate your thoughts."

"They're, like, wolf tiger wolverine things." She said disjointedly, only proving his point further. "With red eyes." She added.

"Sounds like a demented breed of hell hounds.." Crowley smirked, thinking of all the experiments he had done to the genetics. "Maybe they're the product of my failed toil."

"They're not hell hounds." She said firmly. "They're probably, like, God's first draft of hell hounds or something."

"Oh, darling, God didn't make hell hounds..." Crowley replied with a knowing smile. "No, those were Lucifer's idea... He knew how much Micheal loved his father's creation of dogs, so he twisted and corrupted that too, the deviant little bastard." He smirked.

"I get told _nothing_." She mumbled.

"You just haven't been a demon long enough." He teased her. "Don't worry, now I can entertain you with all the stories."

"Hmph." She thought for a second. "Hey, you're not that old either."

"No, but Lilith was a talker..." His eyes flashed with the memory of the ancient demon.

"Didn't you two have a thing?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Almost, but she was too sappy for my liking. Always wanting to talk feelings... It was amusing for a while, but then it just got annoying." He smirked at the thought of her death. "That's why I chose you. You can talk when you need to, but you know when to shut up and fight."

She smiled at the compliment. "I'm flattered. But she certainly gave you a brilliant opportunity to take over Hell when she died, didn't she?"

"Brilliant yes, easy, no... The Winchesters actually helped on that one."

She frowned, thinking back. "They did?"

"They put Lucifer in his cage."

"Well yeah. But that wasn't really helping you, was it? I mean, it was, but if they hadn't we'd all be dead or worse. So that just helped you stay alive."

"I suppose..." Crowley shrugged, giving her a slight smile. "I do enjoy the job though."

"Yeah, I don't doubt it." She smiled slightly. "You get to boss around whoever you want to. Must be fun."

"You now have those rights too, now." He murmured, smirking at her.

She grinned at the privilege, a silent thanks.

Stretching, Crowley groaned at his protesting muscle when he stood. "Shall we get on with it?"

Lauren stood slowly with him. "Your funeral." She mumbled, unable to see in the darkness.


	7. Conflict

Rolling his eyes, Crowley walked forward and flicked his eyes black-red, now able to see in the pitch darkness.

Lauren gulped back her fear and followed suit, letting her eyes flood red. "Crowley, we're screwed if we walk into the wolf things." They didn't sound intimidating when she called them wolf things, but she didn't know what else to refer to them as.

"Oh, we'll be fine. I know how to deal with the little bastards..." He waved off her warning, walking forward confidently before one came out of nowhere, knocking Crowley to the ground with it's paws on his chest.

Lauren allowed herself a pause to say, "See?" Before lunging at the creature, tackling it sideways; the last encounter she'd had with one of these hadn't ended well. She'd gained several claw wounds on her back and had had to run for hours on end to lose it.

Not having time to respond to her sarcasm, Crowley snarled and lunged at the creature, which had saliva frothing at it's powerful jaws. With a strong, quick hand he pulled it away from Lauren by the scruff of it's neck, beating it against a tree repeatedly before it yelped and fell still, alive but unconscious.

Lauren stood up slowly, blood spreading across her now shirt. "You alright?" She asked slowly, pressing her hands against the light scratches on her stomach. She wondered vaguely if the ones on her back had started bleeding again. Probably...

"Fine." He panted out, the ignored deep claw marks on his chest seeping blood into his suit as he dropped the creature, cutting off it's head with a grunt. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She lied quickly, knowing he'd be able to tell but not really caring as she went over to him, unbuttoning his shirt to look at his chest wounds.

He looked to her with concern, more than he held for himself as he pulled his shirt commandingly back over the wounds. "Care for yourself first."

"I said I'm fine. Just scratches."

"Take care of it..." He growled, watching the blood seep into her shirt. "Scratches don't do that."

She didn't want him to worry... But then, she couldn't keep ignoring direct orders. Shrugging her jacket reluctantly, her shred shirt was completely sodden in blood.

Eyes widening with worry and concern, he crossed quickly to her and pressed a hand to the deep mark in her stomach.

"Look, I'm fine, honestly..."

"No, you're not fine, this has to be at least two inches deep." Crowley murmured, inspecting the wound closer.

"I've had worse..." She mumbled, trying and failing to hold her side of the argument. Great, now he was pissed off at her as well.

Muttering something to himself, Crowley stitched up the wound with leftover supplies in his suit jacket.

She stayed silent, gritting her teeth until he finished. "Can I look at that now, because you're the one of us who's even alive."

"Fine.." He grumbled, opening his shirt. He wasn't really angry at her, just concerned... He always had trouble showing proper responses.

She drifted her fingers lightly across the wounds. "These are bad." She mumbled, frowning. "Do you have any supplies left that you haven't wasted on me?"

"A few..." He handed her a small amount of thread, a bloody needle, and a half empty flask of Craig.

She sighed. "Great. Okay, plan B..." She ripped her already torn shirt into pieces, pulling her jacket over her bare, bloody skin. Tipping a little Craig over his chest with one hand, she cleaned off the needle with the other.

Hissing through the pain, he clenched his hands into fists.

"Breathe, princess. Breathe." She murmured, slight concern flickering across her face.

He smirked, having the amused look quickly disappear as the needle bit into sensitive, exposed flesh that held sharp nerves.

She pushed him lightly against a tree so she could hold him upright, one hand tight on his shoulder as she stitched quickly. He stayed vigilant through the procedure, not wanting her to be caught off guard by some purgatory monster. Using a rag when she finished, she slid her arms around him to tie a loose bandage around his chest. Crude, but it would do the job.

"Thank you, love." He was panting with the harsh pain, but was otherwise fine.

She nodded slowly, keeping her arms around him for a second before pulling away to do up both his shirt and jacket: it was still freezing cold, and he'd need the heat. "We'll stay here until morning, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan..." He removed his jacket, despite her efforts, and placed it over her shoulders before pulling her into him, laying them both down.

Lauren sighed slightly, but didn't protest, hesitating briefly before wrapping her arms around him again. "If another one comes stay silent and still." She murmured, holding him tighter as she repeated her words from earlier.

"I will..." He mumbled back, pulling her closer and enjoying the stolen moment of warmth and happiness. Happiness was an extremely rare thing for him to feel these days, real, true, genuine happiness. He always enjoyed the fleeting feeling while it lasted.

She tightened her arms again, the contented feeling spreading to her through him. "I love you." She said suddenly. No one could hear them, what was the point in being emotionless when no one was around?

Smiling genuinely for the first time in centuries, he kissed her forehead. "I love you too sweetheart."

She smiled adoringly back at him, eyes bright and happy. Settling into the ground, Crowley stayed alert yet relaxed until morning came.

* * *

Lauren blinked slightly as light flooded the forest. "Better get going..." She mumbled.

"How're you feeling?" Crowley asked.

She reluctantly untangled her limbs from around him. "A little better.."

He got up, stifling a groan that threatened to escape his throat.

She got up stiffly after a second, frowning at him. "Let me deal with anything that comes at us." She said quietly, taking his jacket off and holding it out to him. Still freezing cold, but she'd worn it for the night and it was only fair.

"Not a chance." He winked at her, pulling on his jacket, which was crusted with blood. "Great..." He mumbled.

"I'll get you a new one when we get back." She said quietly as she started walking slowly onwards.

'If we get back...' He thought to himself, ever the pessimist as he walked on.

She flipped her blade impatiently in her hand, stopping suddenly directly in front of him, tilting her head to listen.

Stopping with her, he looked around, defenses raised.

"Stay here." She turned to him and shot him a look. "Please." She added as an afterthought.

"Why? So you can get torn to shreds?" His concern for her showed prominently once more.

"I'll be fine, promise... I'm not completely defenseless." She said gently.

"Just be careful..." He was reluctant, but let her go although even he knew he was in no shape to fight.

She smiled shakily, kissing him reassuringly. "Keep safe." She murmured against his mouth before heading off into the trees.

Still feeling the kiss heavy on his lips, he watched her disappear into the trees, not wanting her to go alone.

* * *

Lauren came back after about two hours, and looked relieved to see him.

"What happened?" He became alert once more, looking her over to ensure no wounds had been inflicted on her body.

"I got slightly lost..." She admitted, going over to him. "But I got the rugaru blood."

"Perfect." He smiled at her, dabbing at a small scrape on her cheek.

She smiled softly back at him. "So now there's just the Leviathan and angel... I can get the Leviathan, but what do we do about the angel?"

Crowley thought for a second, a lecherous grin spreading slowly across his face. "Samandriel..."

Lauren frowned, confused slightly. "Oh. _Oh_. But..."

"But what?"

"How are we supposed to find him?"

"We ask around... And by ask I mean torture. Leviathan, mainly. An angel in here is like a beacon of fresh meat for them, they wouldn't ignore it or turn it down." Crowley shrugged.

"Leviathan don't speak. Like, at all. We won't be able to get them to talk."

"So then what do _you_ propose we do?" He gave her a sarcastic glare.

"I don't know." She thought for a second, and before she could stop herself, she blurted, "Look, this whole thing is dangerous and you're risking too much for me. To release the Leviathan back into the world, just so I can get back... It's insane."

"No, it's not. I need you, and I won't let you suffer and die in here like some undeserving pig." His voice was flat, demanding, and cold.

"I _am_ an undeserving pig. Crowley, this could destroy the world! Why are you going to risk the entire world for the sake of practically nothing? I am _nothing_!"

"You are not nothing!" He was shouting now, angry at her lack of self worth. "I risked everything for you coming here, and you say you're nothing!" He slammed her up against a tree with his forearm at her neck. "You think I_ care _about the world right now? I need you to run things with me, I can't bloody do this alone! If I wanted you to die, I would have never accepted you back with the stench of heaven so prominent on you. So think what you will, but I will get you out." He looked determined into her face, eyes almost black with anger.

She tried to swallow, but quickly found that she couldn't breathe; even if she had wanted to speak, she wouldn't have been able to. Looking up at him with wide blue eyes, she stayed completely still, silent.

Narrowing his eyes, Crowley dropped her, turning away in powerful frustration.

"I'll go find a Leviathan to get the blood. Stay here and don't die." Lauren blurted, rubbing her throat and disappearing in the maze of trees milliseconds after she'd finished speaking.

Rolling his eyes, Crowley punched the harsh tree bark in frustration, snarling as he bloodied his knuckles.

Lauren didn't return until it was getting dark again.

"Did you get it?" He looked at her with cold, steely eyes.

She had to force herself not to throw the vial of blood at his face. Dropping it into his hand, she nodded. "Yes. I did. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to crawl into a corner to sort out my broken arm, which is hurting like Hell."

"Have fun with that." His eyes narrowed at her as he placed the vile next to the others in his jacket.

She sat down heavily, shrugging off her jacket and wincing at the bone protruding from her skin. She stared at it for a second, wondering how she could do this, before jerking it upwards. There was a sickly snapping sound and she cried out with pain, blood pouring from her arm as she slumped against a tree.

Trying his best to hide the concern written all over his face, Crowley threw her a left over piece of her torn shirt. "If you deserve all of this, you deserve to care for yourself." He turned away from the gruesome scene coldly, still extremely angry. He had shown how much he cared, actually put himself out there, and now she was rejecting him.

She stared at his back, utterly confused now as to what he was thinking. "You know I don't think I deserve thi- What the hell- I thought you were doing this for me- Now you leave me to care for myself?" She would've walked off with the stuttered words, but she couldn't stand with the amount of pain she was in. She wrapped her hand around the break, squeezing the bones together forcefully and crying out again, breathing heavily.

"I am doing this for you, and I think I deserve some gratitude instead of disrespect in telling me I'm wrong for risking it all to save you, risking the world. I can deal with problems, in case you_ haven't _noticed." Crowley didn't turn towards her, just simply stood in one place, anger seething off of him.

"I know you can deal with problems, but I can't! Did you think about that in this _flawless_ scheme?! I'm sorry, Crowley, for telling you my thoughts! Next time I'll keep how terrified I am to myself, huh? Because all you do when I talk is pin me up against the nearest solid object and tell me how I'm wrong and you're right! But, no, I'm not worthless! Not worthless, but when you yell at me like every day you make me feel it! And I am grateful for this, I am! Really! But I'm going to be the one getting Leviathan possessing them, I'm going to be the one who's going to get the blame for destroying the world!" Lauren blinked back tears of frustration at her admittance.

Taken aback by her harsh words, Crowley sighed and he turned to her. "I do all that because I need to make sure you stay alert, you can't become weak with fear. I need to make sure you stay in line so no one can mess with you." His voice was rising with each word. "I need to make sure that one day, if I die, you can rule hell. There, secret's out! I have chosen you to one day run hell, and you can't do it with this... _Fear_! It's as if you think I don't have a _plan_ for the Leviathan when they get out, as if I would let them run rampant and play god again... Really, darling you underestimate me and my efforts. I'm just trying to do what's best for you!" He calmed rather quickly from his ranting, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "But you don't seem to get that."

She blinked, staring up at him and staying silent. She couldn't think of what to say; her throat seemed to have dried up.

"Do what you will, think what you will... But I care for you, and I want what's best for you, best for us, best for our common goal. That's it." He stared at her intently with cold eyes.

"Yes sir." She said, completely toneless as she stared back at him.

"Good girl." He turned his back to her to figure out the angel problem, severing their emotional connection completely for the time being.


	8. Hurt

Lauren stayed silent, not knowing what to do with the whirlwind of emotion hammering against her skull. So, in her usual way of dealing with things, she shoved it down, walling it up. She concentrated on getting her arm to look more like an arm again, but it wasn't really working. It still just looked like a mess of blood, bone, and general gore.

Walking over, Crowley took her arm with a slightly gentle touch and snapped it back in three places. When he finished the sickening process, he placed a small tree branch on the wounded area and tied it in place with an extra piece of her t-shirt. With this, he turned away, trying to figure a way to find Samandriel.

Lauren squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to regulate her uneven, heavy, breathing as she rocked her head back against the tree trunk, her head thumping against it hard.

Crowley glanced back at her, concern flashing in his eyes for a brief second. She was gulping in harsh breaths, shuddering each time she inhaled. "Are you okay?" He still sounded cold.

"Fine." She forced herself to stay emotionless. Because, after all, pain was weakness, wasn't it? Emotion was weakness, and apparently she wasn't allowed to show weakness.

"Good." He sat across from her. "Any ideas on how to find Samandriel?"

"No."

"Lovely..." He glared at her.

She flicked her now red eyes open to look back at him. "I'm sorry. Yes, I do."

"Go on."

"Fairy dust." She snapped.

"_Fairy _dust?" He looked to her incredulously.

"Sarcasm." She snapped once more. "Google it."

His eyes darkened, glare intensifying towards her. "Watch your tone."

"What else do you want me to say? I said no at first, you had a go at me, I said yes, you had a go at me." Her eyebrows pulled together in anger.

"I did not have 'a go at you' when you said yes, I simply responded. However, if you would like me to really 'have a go' at you, I would be _more_ than happy to comply."

She sighed, exasperated. "This isn't fair!" She growled. "Look, seeing as I'm not being at all useful, I'm going to go and_ look _for a fucking angel, okay?!"

"Go right ahead." He smiled sweetly. "Go make yourself useful darling."

She pushed herself upwards with a scoff, wincing at the protest from her arm, and turning to walk quickly away from him, shoulders shaking with emotions she couldn't identify.

The older demon did not watch her go away, he simply sat back, better at keeping emotionless after years of practice.

Lauren wasn't so good at remaining calm. Once out of earshot and sight, she completely lost it. Flying around madly, upset and angry and confused and hurt, she yelled into the silence. She didn't really know what she was doing for a full twenty minutes, just in a frenzy of punching everything in sight. After that, she collapsed at the base of a tree and let herself cry into her hands.

Crowley simply sat, not knowing what to do with himself. He did not want to feel the emotion battling inside of him, but it was relentless. Tugging at his heart and squeezing at his lungs, he could not breath, could not think. How could she simply write him off, write off _everything_ he had done for her? He had let himself love her, he had let himself have some form of happiness, and now it was destroyed. He knew this would happen, he_ knew_ he would be crushed, sooner or later. Every emotion in him, sadness, regret, longing, he converted quickly into anger, pure, raw anger as he walked into the forest and beheaded a couple of creatures, not even remembering what they were through his blind rage. Sitting down after a couple of fights, he was seething, his body a gruesome display of spattered bone shards, blood, muscle, and teeth. Scratches covered his face, and his hands shook with such a loathing hatred for anything, _anyone_, so much so he could hardly function.

Lauren's sobs got louder, harsher. She'd promised him this wouldn't happen. She'd promised him happiness. She'd _promised_, and now he was hurt. She'd hurt him, simply because she couldn't accept her own self worth, and in the process, rejected him. She always screwed everything up. He'd been so afraid to love, afraid to show emotion towards her, in case of exactly this. Now it had happened. She'd lied to him, she'd hurt him, let him down. It crushed her, crushed her until she couldn't move, couldn't even cry. Everything hurt, her chest feeling squashed. He'd gone out of his way to help her, be _nice_, go completely out of his comfort zone. He'd let himself love her, and now she'd ruined everything.

Crowley, on the other hand, couldn't believe himself, he didn't want to. He tried to tell himself he didn't care anymore, but deep down, he knew he did. Feeling that, he pushed it deeper, not allowing himself to feel anymore for her. She was simply a way to get what he needed, that was all she was now, and would ever be in his mind. He would not let himself think anything other than that, he could not let himself think anything other than that. With this, he put his head in his hands in an effort to control the anger he knew he would take out on her, if he did anything else at the moment.

Night was falling fast now, and Lauren barely lifted a hand to defend herself against the creature that lunged at her. She didn't know what to do anymore. She _told_ him it would be okay, and he'd trusted her, and it had been so hard to get him to realize that emotions weren't weak. But now, now that was all undone. Everything. He'd said happiness never lasted, in the past he'd said that, and now she'd just hurt him even more. She couldn't deal with that. So that was why, she thought, she let the mutant animal viciously attacking her do what it pleased. It surprised her, though, when it left when she wasn't dead. In immense pain, and not able to think straight, but not dead. She stayed where she was, now physically unable to move as well as emotionally, and just sat, staring upwards and wishing the wolf thing _had_ killed her.

* * *

After a few hours of silence, Crowley made his way slowly in the direction where he had seen Lauren go. Coming to a clearing, he saw the mangled body of some stupid creature. Chuckling evilly to himself, he walked forward only to discover it was Lauren. There she laid, ripped to shreds and bleeding into the grass below.

"What the hell!" He yelled out in surprise, picking her up and rushing to where they had stayed the previous night. While he was carrying her, he convinced himself he just needed her as a weapon, not as a person. Finally gaining this mentality, he reached their semi-permanent resting area and set her down gently, addressing each wound quickly as best he could; he ripped up his shirt and jacket, and used them as tourniquets and bandages before stitching up the smaller wounds with thread he managed to get from the shreds. Sighing after two hours of grueling work, he saw Lauren was passed out, barley alive.

"Bloody hell..." He cursed under his breath, looking over her mangled body once more. What he had done barley saved her life, but at least he could use her when he needed work done.

* * *

Lauren didn't wake for hours, and when she did she wasn't particularly coherent. Her eyes blinked slowly open, red and hazy with pain. Confused at the bandages she could feel, she frowned.

Crowley walked over to her and knelt beside her. "How do you feel?" He sounded cold and unconcerned.

She inhaled sharply, the crushing pain in her chest intensifying at his tone of voice. "Why did you help?"

"Because I need you to get where I want to be." His eyes were steely and serious as he glanced over her.

"Can I die after I've fulfilled my purpose?"

"I don't care." The three words were almost forced out, every time he said something harsh emotion welled up in him, and this was almost too much. Forcing himself to remain cold, he ignored the emotions clamping vice like around his heart with the cruel words.

Jaw clenching and the pain in her chest tightening once again, Lauren forcefully blinked away tears. "Okay." She choked out. "Okay."

"Just rest for now, we'll move when you can." He turned away for fear she would see the regret and sadness that made it's way into his every feature.

Lauren didn't see; she could barely see anything. She couldn't even cry, now. Not with him right there. So she set her jaw and tried to stop the tears welling in her eyes from falling. She couldn't move, couldn't move to brush them away. She let her head loll and forced herself into unconsciousness.

Watching around them, Crowley stayed awake and vigilant for two days, killing numerous creatures before she woke again.

* * *

Lauren blinked awake, struggling upwards quickly. It took her a second to remember what had happened; she felt happy to be alive, until she remembered. Then, the familiar crushing pain slammed into her once again.

"Feeling any better?" Crowley walked over to her, a leisurely, uncaring, pompous gait gracing his steps.

Hurt flickered across her face, but by now she didn't know why it still hurt so much. Every time he said something, it hurt even more than she would have thought possible. It wasn't getting easier, at all. "A bit..."

"Good. How's your mobility?" He reached her, standing beside her with a nonchalant expression.

She stood slowly; everything hurt, but she didn't really care. The quicker she got out, the quicker she could jump off a building or something. "I can walk."

"Good enough..." He mumbled, looking to her slashed up face, "What the hell did you do?"

"There was a wolf thing that attacked me." She cast her eyes down.

"Attacked or dominated? It looks to me you made no effort of defense." He held an accusatory tone.

"No, I didn't." She kept her voice emotionless, military.

"Why?" He forced her to walk forward with a very slight push.

She tried her best not to yelp. "Because I want to die." She said with the same tone.

"Lovely... Sorry, not gonna happen sweetheart, you're still necessary. After that, go ahead, go die." The emotions inside of his were battling their way out like Leviathan possessing a person: Strong, relentless, and utterly painful, yet he kept pushing them down. He couldn't afford another weakness at this point, especially to someone who rejected his sacrifices.

"I will." She forced out, struggling painfully forwards. Everything just _hurt_. Physically, emotionally, she was just... Broken. Broken because she'd broken him.

With one final push of his emotions, he responded with the one thing that was the exact opposite of what he truly felt. "Good."

She flinched, one hand jerking up to scrub her eyes. Her throat closed over, and the crushing on her chest intensified yet again. Hearing that from him... Wow, it hurt. She felt she deserved it, but it hurt nonetheless. Her shoulders shook with the force of her emotion, and she kept her eyes trained on the ground.

He simply rolled his eyes, he was too far gone to take back what he knew was wrong, because he knew it would end badly again. "Please..." He scoffed, hating himself for it but remaining cold.

She set her jaw and forced down everything, or, tried to. "Is it just the angel blood we need?" She forced out through gritted teeth.

"Yes." His response was simple, monotone.

"How do we get it?"

"You think I know?" He growled, placing a hand on her back to insist on a harsh, faster pace.

Lauren did yelp this time. "Hey, slow it down, asshole!"

"Watch it." He warned, easing up on her slightly for fear she would pass out again. Inside, though, he passed the tight feeling in his chest as one that showed he didn't want them to be held up any longer.

She managed to keep herself at the pace he was forcing her to go at, despite the excruciating pain with every step, and kept her eyes locked directly at the ground.

After a while, Crowley stopped her. "Sit and rest. I need to figure a way to find the little bastard."

"Yes sir." She said tonelessly, carefully sitting down. Shifting into a more comfortable position on her side, she curled up tightly, forcing herself into unconsciousness. The pain fully showed on her face whilst she rested, but her hair was obscuring her features anyway.

Sitting comfortably, adjacent from Lauren, Crowley breathed out, and for a split second allowed all his emotions wash over him. Sadness, regret, anguish, sorrow, anger, longing, and grief all overwhelmed him briefly before he pressed them further into the deep recesses of his mind, not wanting to face them, not caring to acknowledge them.

Lauren shifted and yelped as she put weight on a wound. She stayed unconscious, however, hair falling away from her face to expose the deep hurt. Her hands clutched at empty air, before dropping back into the dirty ground below.

Crowley truly felt bad, and resisted the strong urge to go and comfort her, hold her, tell her she wasn't alone. But no, he would not let himself, he had made that mistake once, and look where it ended him: rejection. Instead, he sat in quiet misery as he protected them.

Lauren's head flicked side to side as she slept, shaking off unseen monsters. Once again, her hands grabbed at air before finding a fistful of her own jacket and clinging onto it.

He looked at her an forced himself to ignore his own emotion, fooling himself into chuckling at her discomfort.

Her hand twisted in the jacket, tearing it slightly with the force. At the sound, Lauren's clenched fist sprang open when she realized that it was her own jacket. For a split second she hadn't felt so alone, but now she was back to the horrible, paralyzing terror. She curled into a tighter ball, hands desperately reaching out for something, anything that might offer her comfort.

Sighing, Crowley walked over to her and sat next to her, surprised to find her hand reach for his and lock onto it tightly. Feeling pain well in his chest, he leaned back and stayed ever alert.

Clinging onto his hand, she seemed to relax slightly for a couple of hours, resting peacefully.

* * *

Lauren shifted, waking slowly and immediately dropping his hand like it was electrified.

Noticing she woke, Crowley looked to her, fighting within himself to remain emotionless at her reaction to his hand.

She couldn't meet his eyes, and was too tired to keep the emotion off her face. The pain, hurt, longing and love showed clearly, and she moved painfully upright to hug her knees.

Before he got out of control of his emotions, he moved away from her. "We need to find Samandriel."

"I know." She said quietly, fighting to keep her voice steady.

"I'm going to go ahead and capture a Leviathan. You stay here and recover." He handed her the larger of the two knives. "Try not to die." He turned away coldly.

"Why don't you take the larger one? You'll need it more than me." Lauren tried to reason.

"You're helpless, I don't want you dying until you've served your purpose."

"_You're_ the one who's going to go hunt down a Leviathan." She argued back.

"I can handle it." He glared at her, forcing himself to ignore his emotions.

"I don't want to have to patch you up when you come back. Just take this one." She held out the blade, staring at the floor.

Crowley simply walked away into the forest, ignoring her protest.

"Or, you know, do that too." She mumbled, more to herself than to him, her voice breaking with grief.


	9. Soap and Sorrow

As he walked on, Crowley killed a couple creatures before encountering a Leviathan. Seeing it rush towards him, he beheaded it swiftly, effectively slowing it down and picked up both halves, heaving them away. Finally reaching their makeshift camp, he rolled the head into the clearing and dumped the body near it.

"Oh, you're still alive." He commented towards Lauren coldly.

"Unfortunately."

"Yes, unfortunately." He growled, tying up the beheaded body of the Leviathan.

Lauren winced at his harsh words, and rocked her head back against the tree. Staying silent, she decided, was best. 'Don't speak unless spoken to.'

Ignoring her obviously pained form, Crowley set the head next to the body, waiting for it to reattach itself.

Lauren shut her eyes, staying very still, locked inside her head.

The Leviathan's head began shifting closer to the body, and it's eyes opened.

"Well, that's creepy." Crowley smirked down at the bloody skull.

"You're an extremely rude person." It said, the spectacle becoming comical.

"Says the one who got blood on my suit." He shot back.

"Excuse me, who is the one whose head is detached from his shoulders?" The head glared at the demon.

"Oh yes, I forgot, you're the one at the disadvantage for charging at me like some sort of stupid animal." Crowley smiled back sweetly.

The Leviathan glared for a second, then frowned. "You're odd. You're not really in here..? It's strange."

"Oh you know... Ancient spells, King of Hell, most powerful being available to the universe... The usual." He waved the comment nonchalantly off.

"Why are you here?" The head's frown deepened. "Why would you _choose_ to come here?"

Lauren tensed up at the question.

"Purgatory holds someone of great use to me." He glanced over to Lauren, face holding no emotion, as if she was merely an object.

"Oh." The monster said, still frowning.

Lauren opened her eyes slightly, curious to see if there was any emotion on Crowley's face; she was disappointed. "Yeah, I'm like a dog. You know, loyal, well trained. Nothing more than a pet." She commented bitterly. "Well, not even that, really. More like a computer. There to be used. Being a dog, well, people love their pets, don't they?"

Crowley just rolled his eyes, despite what he felt in his chest. He was screaming internally to tell her she was wrong, to tell her she was more than an object to her. Then, when it felt as if he couldn't hold this cold demeanor any longer, it stopped. He simply stopped, thought, and decided he would not be weak again. She _was _just an object, she _was _just something to use for his own purposes. With this mindset, he simply smiled evilly at the Leviathan head.

Lauren hugged her knees tighter, his reaction yet another weight added to the crushing pain on her chest.

The Leviathan blinked. "It's a lot to risk for an_ object_. There are probably a million other things out there like that thing. Why come here for her?"

"She's pretty trustworthy, better at following orders than most." It was the closest to a compliment she had gotten all day. Lauren laughed bitterly into her knees, a harsh, pain filled sound.

The Leviathan quirked an eyebrow, glancing at her. "She looks like she's insane, and she's practically shredded. I don't see how she's worth it."

Rolling his eyes, Crowley simply kicked the head towards the body.

"What do you want?" It snapped, beginning to reattach.

"I need a favor." Crowley said evenly.

"What?"

"Find an angel, I know you can see them more clearly than any other creature."

"Why should I?" The Leviathan snapped

"Because you don't want me to get persuasive." His eyes narrowed.

"Oh, you couldn't make me talk, demon." He said, looking at Crowley with contempt.

"And why do you say that?" His chest swelled with authority.

"How old _are_ you, demon? Three hundred years? I am as old as Purgatory itself. Older, in fact. You are_ nothing_. Just a mutated human, a cockroach. You can't make me do anything."

"Oh... Isn't this cute? You really do have an inflated sense of self worth, for someone who gets hurt by _soap_." He smirked, pulling out a bottle of industrial cleaner from his pocket. "You really underestimate everyone don't you? I wouldn't come to purgatory unprepared, but I'm insulted you think I would."

"Ooh, I'm terrified. I've had worse, demon. Go ahead. Tip that all over me. I won't say anything, you'll see."

"Oh you ignorant fool..." Crowley pulled out a syringe and filled it with the viscous liquid. "Better start talking." He injected the contents in it's neck.

He hissed in pain, but otherwise did nothing.

Crowley smiled at his discomfort before dropping some of the cleaner into it's eye.

The Leviathan growled, the hissing of pain getting louder.

"Oh look, it's smoking..." He mocked, pouring a small amount into it's mouth. With this, he clamped a strong hand on the creatures nose and mouth, forcing it to swallow the searing contents.

It twisted, spitting into Crowley's hand before gulping down the burning mouthful. Still, it didn't talk.

Growling in frustration, he stepped back, allowing the contents to take more affect before continuing.

The Leviathan writhed, choking on the vile substance. "Not going to talk, _demon_." He spat. "I was considering it, if you'd asked nicely. Now, not so much."

Sighing, Crowley walked slowly over with a knife. "Come on now," He came behind him, speaking low and dangerous in his ear, "You don't want to see what else I'm prepared to do."

"I'm quaking." The monster shrugged. "Make it interesting, please."

Crowley made a quick show of grabbing his dirty, short hair with one hand, bringing up the knife with the other. Tipping his head back, he sliced neatly at the top of his forehead and removed his scalp, pouring a small amount of cleaner on the open, gruesome wound.

The Leviathan ground his teeth together against the pain, hands clenching into fists.

Lauren looked up suddenly. "Stop."

Crowley's head snapped up, his steely gaze meeting Lauren's. "Excuse me?"

Her eyes were flat. "If he tells us where the angel is, it benefits him. He's getting a ride out if he helps us complete the spell. I don't know why I didn't think to tell him that before. He'll probably comply now."

"Well at least you're helpful. I did enjoy the torture though." He smirked, looking to the monster for an answer, who pointed south.

"That way about five miles. In a cave." 'With a few other angels.' He thought, but he didn't say it.

"Perfect. You're coming with us then, I'll need to send you in as insurance." Crowley sliced his head off swiftly, picking it up. "You drag the body." It was as if he held no concern for Lauren's physical well being.

"I can barely walk." She stated, looking up at him with dull, lifeless eyes.

Sighing with annoyance, he tossed her the bloody head, dragging the body behind him.

Lauren caught it, trudging after him and staring at the ground. Five miles. Could she make five miles? It was risky, definitely, and she didn't think he would let her stop. He didn't care about her. If he had, he didn't anymore.

Crowley walked on, his jaw set with unfaltering determination for three miles, ignoring the Leviathan's constant complaints.

Lauren stopped for a second. "Can't you slow down?" She mumbled. He was already a little way in front of her. But this hurt. Breathing hurt. Everything hurt.

"Maybe you should just speed up." Despite the comment, he stopped and sat on a fallen log, stuffing the head into the hollow expanse.

Lauren slumped back onto a tree, holding her head with one hand, resting her elbow on her knee.

"Just rest for now, we move in three hours." His tone was flat, lifeless, cold as he tied up the headless body and secured the head in the log.

In a sudden moment of clarity amidst all the pain, she looked up to say quietly, "I really screwed it up, didn't I?"

Crowley didn't answer her, just simply turned away and sat down for fear his face would give him away. He still had a slight flicker of hope, but kept pushing it down in an effort to keep himself from more regret, more pain.

She flinched. "I'm sorry, if that means anything to you. I'm so sorry." Her voice was raw with emotion as she slid onto the floor.

Crowley bit back a response, staying quiet. About an hour later, he trusted himself to turn around and look to her unconscious form. In a moment of what he considered emotional weakness, he walked over and pulled her into his lap. "I'm sorry too love..." He stroked his thumb over her cheek for a few minutes, looking to her mangled face with regret before returning to his previous position away from her.

Lauren woke up slowly after another couple of hours, blinking at the harsh sun streaming through the trees. She assumed his position hadn't changed since she'd been unconscious, and swallowed hard. Because briefly, she'd had the hope she'd wake and she'd be forgiven. Maybe he'd have put an arm around her, or at least turned to face her. But no. She had to accept the fact that he didn't care about her. Why was that so hard to do?

Hearing Lauren get up, the older demon turned to her with cold eyes, his emotional control regained. "We're leaving in five minutes, be ready."

"Yes sir." She mumbled, struggling upwards to lean back on the same tree she had been earlier, fighting a wave of dizziness.

Crowley untied the Leviathan's head and body, once again placing the head in Lauren's hands and walking away, barley acknowledging her.

Once again, the crushing pain slammed into her. It happened every single time he did, well, anything. She followed stiffly, forcing the already intense pain in her body down.

His lungs squeezed in his chest, all he wanted to do was not be angry. Despite the want that overwhelmed him, he pushed down the feeling until it was no longer existent, until it came back up again only minutes later. It seemed a never ending process, forcing away the regret, during the 2 hour walk before they reached a clearing that exposed the cave.

Lauren swallowed. One of the big problems was that she still loved him. Cared about him. Worried. She knew deep down that he could do anything to her, hurt her beyond repair, and she'd still love him. "Other angels have died. There might be more than just Samandriel in there." She mumbled to him.

"Yea, I figured that." His tone was slightly harsh before placing the head back on the Leviathan's body. "Go in there, and be obvious about it. I want to see how many attack you." His voice was quiet, commanding as he shoved the creature forward, not willing to cut his bonds until they were closer to the cavern.

The Leviathan gulped, eyes darting around and contemplating making a run for it. He walked reluctantly forwards, deciding against the escape.

Reaching the entrance, Crowley quickly cut his ties and pushed him forward, in full view of the angels before he stepped back behind the brush, Lauren beside him, watching warily.


	10. Out

The Leviathan gulped. "I can explain..." He backtracked, shuffling backwards.

"Please do..." Metatron persuaded, stepping forward quickly.

"Uh- I- There's demons back there." He blurted, jerking his thumb behind him. "I mean, one of them's half dead and the other one's an asshole in a nice suit."

Metatron's eyes narrowed and looked around. "Yea, sure, like _Crowley_ would let himself be killed. There's no way he's in here. Stop lying and tell me why you really dared to show your face."

"I'm not. He said there's a spell or something that he's doing to get the girl out. I swear, I'm telling the truth."

"Crowley's here?" Samandriel suddenly spoke up, looking up from inside the cave.

"No, this stupid piece of filth thinks he can make something up to save his own skin, either that or he's trying to distract us from his kind plotting an ambush." Metatron threw behind his shoulder, stepping forward again.

"I'm not!" The Leviathan blurted. "I swear I'm not! I think the girl died and he came after her."

"And why would you be telling us this? Your kind usually try and trick and beg for information." His eyes narrowed more with suspicion as his stance got more defensive with the possibility of Crowley.

"Because I'm dead if I warn you about him or not. May as well tell you. Maybe he'll get killed."

"_Maybe_ he'll get killed? You know what... I'm going to give you one chance, monster. Give me proof Crowley's out there." Metatron scanned the tree line.

Samandriel stepped warily from the inside of the cave, standing beside the powerful arch angel. "What if he's really out there... We can't risk it.."

Metatron looked back to Samandriel, an ever serious expression plastering his face. "We're strong, even if he is out there we have enough forces to take him out in an instant."

The Leviathan chewed his lip, thinking hard about his next move. "How am I meant to prove it? I...uh, well, I wouldn't just make something like this up, would I? I haven't been up to Earth for centuries. I don't know any demons, especially not those two young ones like them."

"Fine..." Metatron growled, motioning two of his angels forward into the brush. "Samandriel you stay here. If Crowley's really out there you'll be the first to go.

The young, wide eyed angel gulped at the thought of his torturer and gave a slight nod.

The Leviathan couldn't help but smirk at Samandriel's discomfort. "I swear, they're out there."

The other angels ignored him, ever emotionless while they entered the thicket of trees and brush.

Crowley shot a warning glare at Lauren. "Don't screw this up." He mouthed, eyes cold and unfeeling.

Lauren glared at him, eyes dark. 'Who does he think I am?' She thought internally, stretching her arms. No, she wasn't ready at all, not with these injuries, but she would have to deal with it.

Crowley stood ready, quickly ducking behind a bush as an angel passed him. "Hello angel.." He whispered after he followed it far enough into the forest, placing a hand on it's mouth while he slit his throat savagely.

The unsuspecting celestial being yelped, muffled by Crowley's hand, and struggled to move. Strength decreasing rapidly, it's knees buckled into the earth, lifeless.

Lauren followed steadily, quietly, listening for enemies.

"Got our angel blood." Crowley smirked, more to himself than Lauren as he collected the blood in a small vile.

"Yeah, I can see that." She said bitterly, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Don't get smart with me." He shot her a warning glare.

"I'm quaking." She growled, sarcasm dripping off her tone. "Really."

Instead of his usual full contact punishment, he simply looked into her eyes and caused horrible hallucinations to plague Lauren. "Respect is of the utmost importance, you should know this by now. Sure, I can't hurt you physically, you're too injured for that. But mentally, I can do so much; there is so much you don't know about the new me."

She flinched, from both the hallucinations and his harsh words. "Crowley, I don't- I just- Right... And what exactly is the 'new' you?"

"One who isn't hindered by you." He walked away, cold and unfeeling in his gesture, despite the tightness around his lungs.

Eyes flicking around, following images only she could see, Lauren attempted to listen to what she could make out. "If I was nothing but a hindrance," She said, trying to hide the pain in her voice, "Then why did you come for me? Why not leave me dead?"

"Because when I came for you I thought you actually _cared_ about being saved, I thought you would be_ grateful_ for my help." His tone was flat, emotionless.

"I did care about being saved until you told me how you felt." She didn't want to believe it. Couldn't believe it. But she had to. This was him, and he was telling the truth now.

"How I _felt_? And remind me again, how did you take that so wrong?" He stepped towards her.

"Huh?" She blinked, eyes flooding red as she tried to distinguish reality from hallucination.

"All I did was tell you how valuable you are, and you rejected it. So again, remind me how you took that wrong." His answer was short, stern, and cold.

She dropped her head, finally giving up. "I don't know. I was stupid. Like I always am."

Crowley took another step forward with the original intent to pull her close, but stopped himself, instead letting his fist make angry contact with her jaw. "Yes... You were stupid." He looked down at her crumpled form, grief, rejection, and regret flashing in his eyes for a split second.

The punch came as a surprise, as Lauren couldn't see how close he was. Scrabbling upwards to kneel, she kept her head lowered. "I told you before." She said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't bring back what I used to be, sorry won't fix how weak I've become, sorry won't bloody run hell!" His eyes flicked black-red with anger after he revealed his true thoughts for the first time, even to himself.

Still unable to see him, Lauren nodded slowly, painfully. "But... I don't know how to help you. I don't know what to do." She said carefully.

"I don't need help, I never asked for it either." He turned away.

"But I _want_ to help."

"I told you I don't _need _help. All I need is for you to serve your purpose by aiding in the take down of Adam."

She closed her eyes, lowering her head again as the crushing emotions in her chest intensified once more.

"Get up, we need to keep moving... The angels will be thorough in their search."

"Can I get my mental stability back?" She didn't raise her head.

He didn't respond, just simply removed the visions and walked off.

Standing slowly with a low grumble of pain, she followed him quietly, staring at her feet as she walked.

Finding a clear, quiet area, Crowley began to set up the spell ingredients. "Get over here and open your arm." He was commanding and straightforward.

She walked over to him, silently following his commands. "Probably not going to be the same after I've swallowed a gazillion Leviathan." She commented drily.

"Fine by me." His lip curled in revulsion that only he knew to be false. "Get on with it."

She sliced open her arm, head lifting to watch him intently.

He dripped the five types of blood into the wound, reciting the spell with each drip of the viscous liquid.

"Ego in hoc mundo abhorrentes  
Homo scintillam gratiae humanam  
Ardet intus clarus ab alto lumen purum  
Et hoc mihi licet nunc

Sanguine hoc facerem misce  
Quorundam intueri oportet  
Dimitte me, iam ex hoc loco,  
Acceptis alias animas in gratia!"

With this, wind picked up around them with a blinding, glowing blue light.

Lauren whimpered softly, dropping to her hands and knees as her body was wracked with harsh shudders. After two minutes of non stop pain and anguish, they were flung back into the reality of Dean and Castiel's living room. Lauren shuddered again, still on her hands and knees. She coughed black goo, hacking up the liquid and standing slowly as it dripped off her chin.

"Lovely..." Crowley mumbled, tossing her his handkerchief as if he didn't have a care in the world. He wanted her back, he really did... But he had reconvinced himself in what he knew to be true: Love is weak, and it will make you weak and vulnerable. To be a good demon, a good leader, a good _king_, you must detach yourself from everyone and remain emotionless, for threat of the exact situation he now found himself miserably in.

She dropped it, eyes flicking to black. "This... Is difficult." She gasped out, putting a hand on the wall to brace herself, but her splayed fingers just gouged out the brick like it was soft clay.

"Can you guys take your power overload somewhere else?" Dean asked quietly.

Lauren scrubbed a hand harshly over her face, her hands already beginning to aquire red sores from where her meat suit was wearing down. It hurt.

The older demon smirked at Dean before slamming him head first into a plaster wall, knocking him unconscious with the force. "I'll take my leave now." With a small, sophisticated, mocking wave at Castiel, he zapped them both back to the ninth circle.

Lauren swayed on her feet, looking around Hell with a lip curl of disgust. Rolling her head from side to side, she looked around. "This isn't like it used to be." She said, her voice echoed by a million deep ones.

"Made a few changes, to whoever is wondering..." Crowley examined Lauren closely, smiling down into her eyes at the souls he could faintly see with his own power.

"We all are." She said again. Her eyes were scared, pleading with him, what was left of Lauren trapped amidst a sea of black. "Please.." She stuttered out.

Touching a hand to her eyes, Crowley caused the souls to delve deep within her own, quelling their rule for the time being.

Lauren gasped in a breath. "Thank you." She breathed, unable for a second to hide her wild emotions.

He looked to her pained face, ignoring the thanks. "You know you can't hold those forever."

She gave him a strained, pain filled smile, frighteningly similar to the one she wore when she died.

"Good talk..." Crowley mumbled sarcastically.

Lauren gulped, sliding her hands into her pockets. "I'm stronger than you." She said suddenly. It wasn't a lie, and it scared her.

His eyes darkened with warning. "How? I own souls from the beginning of time, you hold what.. Ten years?"

"I've got the Leviathan, Crowley... They're more powerful than you can imagine."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, more powerful than centuries of souls, plus all the human souls that came to hell after heaven closed."

"They are." She held up her hand, the red sores spreading. Deep voices echoed in her head, loud and eerie. "Great... I can hear voices. Can _you_ hear voices?"

"No..." He looked closely at her once more, studying her eyes. Her eyes were dark with pain, strained, but mostly terrified. Underneath that, there were the souls, all twisting and fighting to escape. "We need to store them somewhere, they'll destroy you." He then started thumbing through his ancient books, trying to find a solution.

"Alright..." She stuttered, slumping back on the wall behind her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she pressed her hands to her temple. "Shut up..." She mumbled under her breath.

"Going a little crazy there, are we?" Crowley looked to her slumped form, wary of her unknown amounts of power.

"Yep." She said in a strained snap, rubbing her head.

"And how, pray tell, are you gong to keep those _things_ controlled?" He stepped closer to her, gaining back the small amount of lost confidence.

"I don't know!" She looked up, frantic. "I don't know. I thought you could help me." She admitted, mumbling.

"Well unfortunately I'm fresh out of ideas on Leviathan at the moment." He rolled his eyes and sat down at the desk, continuing his search for some sort of answer.

She laughed. "Great... Just great. Just don't underestimate them." She met his eyes for a split second. "Please."

Feeling uncomfortable with himself at the gaze, he snapped his head back into the book. "Like I would..."

"No offense, Crowley, but your arrogance is well known. I just... Don't underestimate them. You'll get hurt."

"I'm not as impulsive as you my dear." He glared with warning at her.

"Sorry. I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hurt you." She lowered her head back into her hands, shutting her eyes.

Guilt shot through Crowley's cold heart, feelings he had tried time and time again to deny resurfacing. The constant battle was tearing him apart, it was making him _weaker_, by concentrating solely on the task of ignoring the fiery emotion. The moment he realized this, he let all the guilt and remorse wash over him, along with a small flicker of hope; hope that she would understand his angry misunderstanding. "It's not your fault..." He murmured ever so slightly, barley above a whisper.


	11. Oh Fearsome Leviathan

Lauren's head snapped up, eyes fixing on him. "H-Huh?" She blinked, watching him carefully.

"It's not your fault for trying to protect me." Crowley was slightly louder, still uncomfortable with his emotions and vulnerability after ten years of detachment.

Her eyes were wide, and soft, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Tentatively, she took a couple steps towards him. He kept his head down, looking through the pages while he tried to look emotionless. Staying silent, she put her hands flat on either side of the book, watching him intently.

Crowley's head snapped up, "Can I help you?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Crowley," She murmured, "How do you feel? I mean, what are you feeling right now?"

At her words, he began arguing within himself. He knew he wanted to have a small amount of happiness in Hell's wasteland, he knew he wanted to be close to her, but he also knew he could get hurt and become weak. He did not want to feel as he did in Purgatory, he remembered all too well the way he went out without thought or reason on a killing spree. Just look at Dean, _he_ had let himself love, and it had cost him the lives of his family... It was just more stress, anger, and pain, those of which Crowley knew he didn't need more of. With these thoughts and reasoning, he turned his steely gaze to her, "_Feeling_? Why don't you just go read my diary." His tone was mocking and sarcastic.

She flushed red, hurt and embarrassed. "Right..." The slight flicker of hope she'd felt, crushed. Just like that. "Sorry." She mumbled, backing away from his desk.

The look in her eye would have crushed his soul, if he had one. Instead, he stood up and walked quickly from the room, making his sadness turn to anger. He felt guilty for the first time he could remember. Demons weren't supposed to feel remorse, _especially_ not the King of Hell. He punched a wall angrily, cracking the hard stone with the repeated brutality, venting his anger and stress.

Lauren hesitated: If she went out there and she was wrong about how he truly felt, he would probably break her head or do something equally as painful. She winced to herself at what sounded like a wall being demolished, and remained put for a second, staring after him and waiting silently.

Ending his attack on the now decimated rock, Crowley turned and put his head into bloody hands. _This_ was what he had caused by getting himself attached. Now he was hurting and distracted, the disturbing feelings causing him to feel discomfort all day, every day.

Tentatively, Lauren stepped into the corridor. She stayed silent, taking in the scene laid out before her, her now ever present frown deepening.

He lifted his head, eyes filled with hatred. "What do you need?"

"Do you want me to fix your hands?" She glanced at his eyes and then looked away quickly; it hurt too much.

"I got it..." He grumbled, healing his hands slowly. He always found it more difficult to heal himself, whereas he could heal others with just a thought due to the new souls, although he did that rarely.

She nodded, eyes still fixed on the floor. "Not the most effective way to redecorate.." The joke was weak.

"Yeah, I guess not..." He didn't smile, but his tone was softer.

She smiled weakly while he simply stared at his hands, finishing the slow healing process.

"What happens if I do survive this? What do we do then?"

"We have Adam's head on a pike. It would be a nice decoration for my front office." He smirked at the evilly gruesome thought.

She nodded slowly. Truth was, she didn't want to stay. Not with him being like this. It hurt her too much.

"How are you feeling?" Crowley's words were hesitant, his expression uncomfortable as he looked to her.

"I... Honestly?" She looked up, back at him. "Hurt. In pain. Upset. Suicidal. Worried. Scared..." She said softly. She didn't particularly like opening up, but she figured she set a good example for him. "I could go on."

He didn't know what to say, just stepped forward. "Why?" There was an extremely light flicker of concern behind his cold gaze and demeanor.

"Because I'm in love with you." She said quietly. "It hurts, and it's horrible because it's unrequited, but I am."

"You don't know it's unrequited..." He tried to stop himself from the words, but they came spilling out.

"I- uh- You're a good actor, then." She mumbled, brow furrowing.

"Just protecting myself." His eyes turned cold once again at the admittance of his true actions, regaining his control.

"I don't blame you. I just wish I could do the same." She stared into his cold eyes.

"Maybe you should, then you wouldn't be like this." He turned away, not letting her see the pain in his eyes.

"I'm not strong enough." Her voice was weak.

Crowley took in a deep breath before turning around quickly, pulling her into a rough, desperate kiss. She blinked, surprised, and it took her a few seconds to respond to his mouth. Once she did, an immense feeling of relief washed over her. He pulled away with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Not having you is only making me weaker." He murmured.

Utterly speechless, she just nodded, looking up at him. He simply pulled her close and ran his fingers through the back of her hair, glad he had chosen this. It would be better in the long run, he reasoned.

Burying her face in she shoulder, she slid one hand to the back of his neck. "Sorry for being a bitch."

"Sorry for being so self protective..." He placed a light kiss on her lips.

She smiled genuinely for the first time in ages. "You're a hell of a good actor."

"Wasn't acting, just angry." He smirked.

"Well then." She rolled her eyes. "You're just an asshole."

"You watch your tone..." Guarded mischief glinted in his eyes before he looked into hers, seeing the souls she had obtained, the most prominent being the Leviathan. "You need to get rid of those."

She nodded her agreement. "Yes... I do..."

"We need answers.."

She scrubbed a hand over her face before looking at him. "How much do you actually _know _about Leviathan?"

"Hardly anything." He admitted.

"Great.." She muttered, leaning back against the wall, hands flying to her stomach at a sudden, painful tugging sensation. Lifting her shirt, she gulped. "Okay... That's mildly terrifying."

"Now that's just gross." He watched her skin form around a human like face. "But I figure the only way to learn about these is through Castiel, and I'm sure he won't happily comply with the way I hurt Dean before leaving. Fortunately for us, it's been ten years, meaning our contract of 'no torture' is currently void." He smirked.

She smiled weakly, black goo oozing from the corner of her mouth. Wiping it away with the back of her hand, she grimaced. "This is... Awful."

"Let's go then." He snapped them to the house, finding the couple eating a small, unappetizing dinner. "Hell on Earth not treating us so well has it boys?"

Castiel swallowed and sighed, wiping at his mouth neatly. "What do you want?"

"I need to know about Leviathan. Everything and anything, there isn't much reading material on the coy bastards." He glanced over to Dean, who held a glare his way. "The black eye really does suit you handsome."

Dean growled a warning, moving to sit next to Castiel protectively, who looked at Lauren more closely, frowning. "There isn't much to know, Crowley..." Castiel frowned.

"Everything and anything..." He narrowed his eyes in command.

"Um..."

The demon rolled his eyes and zapped himself over to Dean, clenching his hand around his throat.

"Okay! Okay!" Castiel said frantically. Crowley squeezed tighter, completely cutting off the hunters necessary air supply.

"Well, cleaner hurts them... The chemicals react with the molecular structure of thei-."

Crowley shot him a sarcastic glare, cutting him off. "I know that, how did you get rid of them?"

"You have to do a spell."

"Go on..." He slowly eased his grip on the Winchester's esophagus.

"It's similar to the one to open Purgatory, but different... The Leviathan held on when I did it.."

"Well that's encouraging." Lauren muttered.

"Damn it." Crowley cursed, letting go of Dean's now red neck.

Castiel watched carefully, eyes flicking nervously to Dean, who was now sucking in breath in choked gasps. "But, I mean, I survived, so maybe..." He stammered.

"Maybe what?" He looked with evil curiosity to Castiel's rugged face.

"Maybe she can survive too..." Lauren staggered, slumping into the wall behind her.

"What does she have to do?"

"Let them go. She has to stand in front of the sigil and let them go... Channel them into Purgatory."

Sighing, Crowley looked to Lauren's crumpled form. "Are you strong enough?"

"I'm going to have to be." She mumbled, steeling herself and struggling to stand straight.

"Let's get going then. Thanks for the help, feathers." Crowley looked to Castiel with a wink, who was currently tending to Dean's bruised neck with soft murmurs and light kisses. The fallen angel glared at him as the two demons disappeared, feeling helpless and hopeless to their rule; he had given up all hope.

They arrived in an abandoned house within seconds.

"Let's just draw the sigil." Crowley walked to the wall and pressed it in, revealing a small freezer. Opening it, he took out the small amount of remaining various bloods from ten years previous. "Figured I should save it." He smirked.

"You're creepy." She mumbled.

"Yes, but my creepiness saved us a couple trips."

"True.." She nodded, swaying on her feet. He quickly drew the sigil on the wall, searching for the correct spell in a small book. Unable to hold herself, Lauren crumpled onto her knees in front of the sigil, lowing her head, swaying even on her knees. Seeing her failing state, Crowley quickly recited the found spell.

"His verbis constantes  
Sed do introitum regni  
Hunc sanguinem munus tuum  
Hoc sacrificium tuo corpore

defecit creatio  
Scissisque carnem intrinsecus  
Teneberis vase  
Non occidet ultra pecces

Nunc liberi, non infirma  
Retro in hoc mundo  
Cum animabus mansuétos  
Sæcula recesserimus, o formidolosi Leviathan!"

When the spell was finished, the sigil glowed and sucked the souls from her body with a loud crack. Crowley had expected the Leviathan to go back into Purgatory as well, but they instead manifested around and inside the house, thousands of evil creatures surrounding him. Looking around, the demon paled slightly at the sight of Dick Roman standing in the center of the chaos, an evil grin plastered to his face.

**((In case you guys were wondering, here's the translation for the spell:**

_**With these words**_  
_**I grant you entrance to our realm**_  
_**This blood your gift**_  
_**This body your sacrifice**_

_**Failed creation**_  
_**Tearing flesh from within**_  
_**Be released from this vessel**_  
_**No longer shall you sin**_

_**Be free now, no longer weak**_  
_**Back into this world**_  
_**With the souls of the meek**_  
_**Forever be gone, oh fearsome Leviathan.**_

**Again, thank you all so much for the support and reviews, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.))**


	12. Joint Operation

Lauren shuddered hard, the black goo now dripping from her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, running down her face to give her an eerie, mutilated look. She gulped, gasping for breath. "T-They're not- Not all- gone-"

"Why not?" Crowley passed the evil looking creature that had manifested in Dick's body without a second glance, cupping her face in his hands. The leader of the Leviathan smirked, silent and amused, watching the two demons with mild interest.

Lauren gasped in breaths, her eyes flicking back and forth between black and red. "I- I couldn't get them all to- I'm s-Sorry! I couldn't get them to go!"

"The spell should have worked!" Crowley yelled, standing to face their leader. "Why won't they get out?"

Dick smirked. "What? It's not my fault if one of one wants to stay in there. She's pretty."

Crowley growled defensively. "You shut your mouth and tell me why they won't leave."

He shrugged. "He likes her." He glanced at Lauren, whose eyes were now flooded black.

Crowley glared at Dick. "I don't care if he likes her, get it out of there."

"Why should I?" He answered, an amused smirk forming on his lips.

"Because I told you to." He commanded, rising with anger.

Dick's smirk grew angry. "And why, may I ask, should I take orders from _you_?" He said, looking with contempt to Crowley while Lauren climbed to her feet, heading over to Dick.

"Because I can put you all back in in a second. For one hour after the spell is preformed, all I have to do is state a reversal incantation, and back in you go until we find a way to actually send you back to Purgatory. Unless, that is of course you want to stay here, should you prove useful to my task at hand.

He glared at Crowley silently, thinking.

"Now, you do _want_ to stay here on earth, don't you?" The older demon's eyes mocked the taller man's.

Seriously angry now, Dick stepped forward to look down condescendingly at the demon. "Don't try and play the higher power here." He growled.

"I may not have more power, but I do have more cash on the table. So take my offer or you get sent back to monster wasteland."

"What makes you think I'll let you send us back there?"

"What are you going to do, kill me before I say the one word it takes to send you back?" Crowley stepped closer to the powerful creature.

Dick glanced at Lauren, who promptly opened her mouth to speak, only to allow black goo to pour out of it in a grotesque river. Her eyes flickered back to red for a second, and it was clear she couldn't breathe.

"Get him out of there!" Crowley roared, pressing the business man up against the wall.

Dick pushed Crowley off him, twisting to push him against the wall. "Go ahead, do it... But it won't make your situation any better by having _Adam Winchester_ take over hell..." His eyes glinted with threat. "You demons always destroy everything, don't you?"

"No more than you..." Crowley smiled sweetly through the force.

"Do not compare yourself to me. You are _nothing_ compared to me. Bottom feeding mutations, the lot of you. Worst creation to date, and given some of the other things Lucifer came up with, that's quite a feat."

Crowley narrowed his eyes, shoving the smug man off his own chest. "Make a decision."

He glared, and Lauren hit the floor suddenly, more black liquid erupting from her mouth and nose as she collapsed, eyes red and wide. It was obvious what the Leviathan meant by this. "Peace offering." Dick said grudgingly.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Crowley went to Lauren quickly and began to attempt to stop the torrent of black goo.

"Guess." He snapped, smirking as Lauren just coughed up more, gasping through the goo, just causing more to pour.

"Just stop and I won't send you back." The older demon remained calm, knowing if he showed fear for Lauren it would only weaken her chances of survival.

Dick sighed, and the torrent of black stopped flowing instantly. "Nothing more I can do." He shrugged, looking at Lauren, who was able to breathe now, but spluttered every few seconds.

"Good boy." He mockingly patted the Leviathan's shoulder before turning to Lauren, helping her stand. Lauren tried her utmost to remain upright, but was still half slumped against Crowley's side, and he was taking most of her weight. He wrapped a strong arm around her for support, giving her a small smile. "Now, about our... Adam problem." He looked at the surrounding Leviathan, more entering the house until they were nearly packed like sardines.

Dick grimaced at the close contact. "Must we stay here, or can we go somewhere more spacious?"

"Why don't you just command your little _pets_ to go elsewhere?" He sounded almost commanding as he looked around with a sneer.

"Yes, but I thought it would provoke you into a multitude of unnecessary threats." He snapped, Leviathan beginning to disappear.

"You could have just explained yourself..." Crowley rolled his eyes. "Now, about the Winchester."

Dick looked unfazed. "Taking Adam down will be easy. Your forces and mine combined, we can crush him."

"How do I know I can trust you?" The older demon's tone was accusatory.

"I'm offended you'd think I'd break my word. Well, let's backtrack a second. I want something in return for helping you with your little slap fight with the Winchester."

"Your prize is not returning to purgatory right now."

"Ah, ah. No." Dick narrowed his eyes.

"Well then what do _you _suggest?" Crowley's eyes flashed with anger and frustration.

"I want America and Canada, for experiments. Then I'll help and won't bother you after you win."

"No deal, North America's mine. You take Asia, lots of land there."

The head Leviathan grimaced. "Why?"

"Why? Because I'm _not_ giving up my most powerful piece of land."

"Stop acting like a petulant child. You take Canada and I'll take America." The Leviathan reasoned.

"No dice handsome. Tell you what, you take what I have offered or I send you back to Purgatory. That's it, no deals, just back in your eternal prison."

Dick growled, and Lauren's knees buckled as a fresh torrent of black poured out of her mouth.

"Damn- it-" She spluttered.

Crowley simply placed a phantom hand into her throat, opening it for breath. "Oh. You believed the '_I'm helpless to care for her when she's choking_' bit? Cute, really." He smirked at Dick.

"True, true. But that can't be pleasant for her. In fact, I know it isn't. See, I've been inside her head. I know everything. She could keep the others out, sure. Not me." He chuckled.

"I don't care, at least she's alive..." His eyes narrowed. "So take my offer or leave it, so you can happily sign off on imprisonment forever."

Dick growled. "Fine." He snapped.

Crowley looked at him, a smug, pleased look crossing his features. "Well now that we've got that all out of the way, how do I know you'll be true to your word in working for me?"

"You don't." He growled, his entire face dark with anger.

"Exactly. So earn my trust." He worked his words with skill, sliding around words efficiently and gracefully in deviousness. "And if you don't mind, get that _monster_ out of her."

"Can't I have even a small win?" He grumbled, glaring at Crowley as he snapped his fingers. Lauren slumped to the side this time, legs completely giving out as he Leviathan disappeared from her body, then the room.

"Sorry, love, when I'm the boss it's my rules and regulations, not yours. So, again, earn my trust."

"How am I meant to do that?" He snapped, still hostile.

"Figure it out, you seem adept enough. I could be wrong though..." He smirked. "Moron."

"You think I want to make this easy for you?" He scoffed. "No way. _You_ think of something."

"How about a deal?" A sly look crossed his face, he had done this far too many times to mess it up.

Dick narrowed his eyes. "Like what?"

"How about you work for me, no complications, no tricks, just obedience. In exchange, in ten years I _won't_ kill you all off and send you to purgatory."

"Don't overestimate yourself, and certainly don't underestimate _us_." Dick growled, thinking it through in his head. "I want it in writing."

"As you wish. Always with the details with you isn't it..." Crowley pulled a rolled up contract out of his suit jacket and snapped on the details.

"I want time to read it through." The Leviathan added, eyes narrowed.

"You have fifteen minutes. I have a half an hour left for me to send you back, and I will not lose that." He handed him the page made from thin, ancient human flesh.

Dick took it delicately, dropping into a snapped in leather armchair before bowing his head to read.

Crowley went over to Lauren, cradling her face in his hands. "How are you feeling?"

Her head was heavy as her eyes flickered upwards to him. "Crappy, to be honest." She said with a half smile. "But better."

"How did all the souls leave for purgatory_ but_ the Leviathan?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"They're strong... They held on." She mumbled.

Crowley's demeanor shifted, he was now angrier than before. "You're going to be okay right?" His tone was cold, not necessarily towards her, but towards the whole situation.

"Relax, I'll be fine. It's just..." She trailed off.

"What?" He stared intently at her unsure face.

"I feel kind of weird. It's hard to explain..." She frowned, grasping mentally at ways to express in words how she was feeling.

Crowley grasped her hand in an unspoken and surprising form of comfort. "Just try."

She squeezed his hand gratefully, surprised but not willing to let it show. "Like... Stronger, but weaker. Like my power's been increased, but I'm weak." She frowned. "That- um- didn't make much sense."

"I get it... Just rest now while I work out this deal with the '_Dick_'." He mocked his name with a smirk.

She smiled slightly, looking up at him and letting her adoration show before hiding it like normal. Slumping back in the chair, she relaxed.

Satisfied, Crowley turned away and walked over to the powerful monster. "Are you quite finished? Five minutes chief."

"Not yet." He said stiffly.

"Hurry it up."

"Patience." Dick snapped.

Crowley sat across from him comfortably, folding his hands in sophistication. "Sorry, never been one of my best virtues."

"Do you have _any_ virtues?" He retorted, sneering.

"Not likely, but look who's talking. Anyway, times up sunshine."

"Fine." He could see a few loopholes that he could possibly exploit. "Deal." He reached inside his jacket, producing a pen.

Crowley sauntered over, pulling out his own pen. "Might wanna use this." He handed him a pen filled with virgin blood. Dick took it with a grimace, swiftly signing the contract with a flourish. In turn, Crowley took the pen and signed his name before snapping it away to his archives. Dick gave Crowley a strained smile.

"Now that all the technical work is out of the way, on to the fun stuff." Crowley leaned over to the taller man.

Standing and brushing himself off, he looked down at the demon. "Yes. _Fun_."

"My favorite part." Crowley smirked, pulling him into a kiss by the back of his head.

Dick shoved Crowley away as soon as he could. "Disgusting, bottom feeding _mutant_." He muttered under his breath.

"Says the one who was trapped in purgatory for centuries. God's _failed_ creations." He smirked. "Now why don't you call all your little followers here."

"Oh, so now you like being squashed in with a hundred Leviathan?" He muttered, summoning the Leviathan easily.

"I just need to talk." Crowley explained, elbowing a Leviathan away from his side. "I need all your help to take down Adam Winchester, the antichrist."  
There was a murmur of sarcastic responses, then a wave of nods. "Now," Crowley continued, "you will all listen to your... _Leader_... Who will in turn be getting commands from me."

The response was another round of frowns and raised eyebrows, but eventually they nodded agreement. Crowley smiled around at them. "Good. Now I want you all to go scout out Adam Winchester's forces while I talk with boss man here." Nods, and then they disappeared individually over the course of a few seconds. "Lovely." Crowley looked to Lauren with a satisfied grin before turning back to Dick. "So, how are you liking your new position?"

Dick glared at him. "How do you think?"

"If it were me, I would love every second." He winked. "So go on, go command your forces. Oh! And don't forget to have fun."

Dick growled angrily and disappeared within a millisecond, leaving Crowley and Lauren with a glare.


	13. Break Down

"Perfect." Crowley growled and sat comfortably beside Lauren, who smiled weakly.

"Things seem to be going well for once..." She commented dryly.

"Let's just make sure it stays that way." He pressed his lips to her temple while she shifted closer, leaning herself against him.

"Yeah." She murmured.

"Will you be okay to fight?"

"I will be, just need a bit longer... If that's okay?"

"Of course."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, darling."

Lauren looked down at her hands, contemplating her next words carefully. "Are we going to never speak about Purgatory again or...?"

"Do you have something to say about it?" He looked to her hesitant face, watching her bite her lip.

"I just... I'm a bit... confused."

"On what?"

"You. I just... I don't know.."

"Darling, you can tell me anything."

She glanced up. "The last time I told you everything you hated me for a week."

"You understand how I receive things now, so structure your thoughts in such a way I can understand your true meaning." He said with a slight bit of pride.

"I don't know how.." Her voice wavered, shaky, unsure. "Well... When we were in there, I trusted you enough to actually talk to you. Like, tell you what was worrying me. Then we had that... Argument."

"I perceived your words the wrong way, you _did_ tell me you were worthless when I was sacrificing everything for you."

"It's how I felt. I'm sorry."

"I know... Just tell me what you're feeling now, and I'll try to keep calm."

"I'm... scared. Worried... and I feel like everything bad in the world is my fault because I closed Heaven."

"Closing Heaven was a benefit to us darling, of course you caused all the world's problems. In the process you helped Hell."

"I still feel... I don't know. It's weird. I feel bad."

He chuckled, almost mocking. "Why? Care too much about the humans?"

"I don't know. That's what's scaring me so much."

"Having Hell on Earth?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Then what?" He was thoroughly confused and slightly frustrated at her words.

"I don't know." She repeated. "I just... There's emotions I've got that I can't identify."

Crowley pulled her close, slightly concerned at her change in attitude, but brushed it off. "It's okay, just work through them."

She tensed for a split second before allowing herself to relax into him. "Thank you."

"No problem at all, love."

She let her forehead rest against his chest, gently playing with his suit lapels. "I think- I'm afraid of losing you again."

"You won't lose me, I'm always watching my back."

She glanced up at him. "Still... But I'm afraid you'll leave me again..."

"I won't." His response was short, insistent, and determined, which earned him a curious look. "What?" He looked back down at her.

"You really do puzzle me."

"I puzzle many, sweetheart." She glowered playfully.

"You are seriously an asshole. I don't know why I find that so attractive."

"It's not my only attractive quality." He smirked and glanced over himself.

"I would deny it, but..." She smirked.

"But what?"

"Well, it's nice how you don't have much of an ego," She ticked things off on her fingers, "and how you are always so kind to others."

"I always thought those to be my best qualities." He smirked back at her sarcasm, causing her to grin.

"Oh, and your patience, too."

"Why thank you." He pretended to be grateful for the 'compliment'.

Smiling, Lauren leaned up and gave him a small kiss. "Anytime, princess." She said innocently, sickly sweet.

He growled and kissed her back. "You're manipulative, you know that?"

"Comes in the job description..." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"My favorite excuse." He smiled and pulled her closer.

"You feeling better?" He asked suddenly, feeling her shiver a slight bit.

"Yeah." She smiled lazily.

"Good. We better go check updates on Adam."

"Mmhm." She made a vague mumble of agreement as she stood, swaying slightly on her feet, one hand holding his arm for support. "Hey, do I look like Bambi?" She smirked slightly, jumping to a joke to hide her weakness.

Crowley chuckled. "Yes, adorable awkwardness and all." He mocked her.

She gave him a playful, weak, punch. "Aww, you think I'm adorable."

"Always." He winked, zapping them to the 9th circle once more. Lauren thought for a second before stepping close to his side, figuring it would appear as if she was walking close to him, and not that she was too weak to stand on her own.

Not taking note of Lauren's closeness, Crowley snapped Dick in front of him, smiling sweetly.

The Leviathan's shoulders slumped, and his eyes glinted with prideful anger. "What now?"

"Just need an update, not all that difficult."

"Not much has happened. It's only been, what, an hour? We took out a few of his demons." The Leviathan

"That's update enough for me... But do continue gathering numbers on his forces, if not your punishment would be... Harsh."

"I know."

"Good." Crowley snapped him away, smirking.

"What now?" Lauren asked, leaning on the door frame.

"I don't know, sit back and wait for Adam to come crawling back like the miserable miscreant he is?"

"Mhm... I don't think he will." She frowned.

"Oh but with our forces on him, he'll crack in no time." Crowley's confident demeanor didn't waver with the words. She decided to say no more on the subject, just nodded quietly. "Are you going to be alright?" The older demon asked, trying to mask his concern.

Her slouched figure, boney arms, and dark expression said enough, but he thought it a nice gesture to ask. "Probably." She did a strange gesture, half a nod and half a shrug. "I appreciate your concern, though." She added, eyes genuine.

"Anytime love." He smiled, his somewhat content expression fading as one of his head demons, Abdiel, showed up in front of his desk. Lauren looked up from her place in the room, eyes flickering to the newcomer.

"Sir.. Adam has breached the west coast..." He looked breathless and ragged, a large gash decorating his right cheek.

Eyes darkening, Crowley looked to Lauren. "Fix this." The command was cold, a large change from the soft words spoken just seconds ago. Lauren's entire demeanor changed immediately. She flexed her arms to make sure everything was working, before snapping on the familiar armor and looking to the other demon.

"Follow me." She glanced at Crowley as she headed for the door. He gave her a reassuring nod, a silent comfort in the uncertainty that laid before them while Abdiel followed Lauren silently, dabbing roughly at the blood trickling down his face. Lauren shot the king a soft glance, before turning to Abdiel. "How large is his force?" She asked the demon once outside.

Crowley rolled his eyes and sorted out paper work, eyes once again shifting to the cage with evil predetermination.

The commanding demon walked briskly beside her, stopping when her question was voiced. "At least 5,000 to our 2,800."

Lauren's growl was audible. "How old are his demons? How experienced?"

"Young and reckless, only about a fourth are experienced."

Lauren exhaled with mild relief. "That's good. I'm pretty sure we can take them. Okay, we need to make sure they can't get breach any more walls." She said, talking to herself more than him.

"Yes Ma'am." He said with surprising respect, lowering his gaze in submission. Lauren glanced at him in surprise, not used to being respected. But then, considering her recent ventures, it wasn't that surprising at all.

"Good." She nodded. "Try to guide our forces around his, trap them in. Then we can crush them."

He nodded in silent reply before touching her elbow softly, zapping them to the control tent of the battle ground. At their arrival, Lauren brushed her long hair out of her eyes.

"Okay..." She said, thinking before turning to another demon close to her. "How's it going?"

"Not good, they may be stupid, but they're vicious and can afford to lose a few to narrow our forces down." The soldier hissed as he placed a tourniquet on a bleeding leg.

Lauren swallowed, silent, eyes flicking over the battle. When she was silent, she was usually thinking, which was either a good or bad thing, depending on whose side you were on. The demons quietly looked to her, waiting for a command to bring to the forces. She frowned in concentration, and tried not to let it show how nervous she was. "Send in the hell hounds." Now, she knew Crowley had utter dominance over the dogs; he always had. They'd be unfailingly loyal, and savage fighters. She probably should have thought of it before, but better late than never.

The demons all smiled evilly, snapping their fingers to summon their dogs. Lauren smiled, rapidly regaining her confidence and stepping outside to watch the battle. She was itching to fight, but she knew for this one it wasn't the best move. She was leading this battle. All hell hounds were released at once in an aggressive choir of howls, snarls, and barking; breaking through the first three lines of defenses with ease while they ripped at throats and limbs with minor effort. At this sight, Lauren's smile only widened. If they continued at this pace, they'd win.

"_Hell hounds... Really, a nice gesture. Amateur, but nice nonetheless._" Adam spoke in Lauren's head suddenly.

"_Is it really your place to be calling __us__ amateurs?_" She replied coolly.

"_Sending out your best fighters, not even knowing a fourth of what you're truly up against... Yes, it's my place._" With Adam's coy words, thousands upon thousands of new forces came charging over the hill at them, battle cries erupting from their evil mass.

Lauren gulped. To that, she had no counter. Her eyes flickered shut briefly, thinking. Nothing. Why couldn't she think of anything? Taking a deep breath, she tried to clear her head. She really wasn't up for this. She was weak, mentally and physically drained, and her mind was dull. Not battle ready at all, and certainly not ready to _lead_ a battle.

"_Well, what's it gonna be sweetie?_" The smirk could almost be heard in the Winchester's voice. She stayed silent, hostility vibrating over the mental link he'd forced open.

"_Cute..."_ Adam replied to the negativity._ "Enjoying the show? I know I __am._" The battle ground looked like a hopeless cause, Adam's forces kept coming out of god knows where, not ceasing for a second.

Lauren's breathing got quicker, and she seemed unable to get the oxygen she needed into her lungs; odd, considering she was actually just black smoke. She didn't know what to do, at all. She didn't know what to do, and she couldn't stop pointless thoughts echoing round her head. She couldn't concentrate properly, and she couldn't answer. She didn't know what to do.

"_Why don't you go tell your lover about your uncertainty while I stay here and decimate your forces, okay, cutie_?" Adam cut off the connection, even taunting her with the mere gesture.

Her head hurting now, Lauren appeared in front of Crowley and promptly fell against a wall. Her breathing was still quick, but she tried and failed to force it to become even. "P-Problem-" She stuttered out.

Crowley got up and walked quickly to her, standing her upright. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "I- I don't think so- not physically- I- um- he's got too many-"

At her jumbled words, he raised his arm and slapped her with undeniable force. "Calmly tell me what's wrong." He commanded, placing a gentle hand over the place he just hit.

Lauren flinched away from his hand, struggling to get the words out. "We're screwed- um- he's- I mean, his forces are too big for us..."

"Adam? How?" His eyes flashed with anger.

"I don't know!" Her panic came out as an angry snap.

At her tone, Crowley pushed her back against the wall and turned away, balling his fists in stress. "How many?"

"Um- ten? Fifteen thousand?" She stuttered, because her head felt like it was crumbling. "Please, not you too..." She mumbled, fingers wrapping around his wrists.

He tensed in rage now, glancing down at her hand on his wrist. "What do you mean?" He had more pressing issues, obviously, but curiosity got the best of him.

"My head's killing me- I don't know what's- everything's just... falling." She couldn't explain it. Memories were crushing her. Memories from spending fifty years in Heaven, being tortured. Memories of Purgatory. Everything. Everything was just crumbling and she was suffocating.

Crowley sat her down at his desk and touched her arm, unable to find another option. "This may hurt a little." A deep, crimson glow came from his hand and burned into her arm, transferring an eighth of his souls to her, giving her more strength.

Lauren yelped and twisted, struggling to pull her arm away but then relaxing, taking deep breaths. Yes, her head felt clear now. "Thank you." She blinked, sudden realization clouding her eyes.

He turned away silently, not acknowledging the gratitude. "Now, explain to me everything you know about the situation out there."

"Well, we were losing quite drastically... So I sent out the hell hounds, which I realize now was probably a bad move. His forces are... huge. I don't know how he's got such large numbers. But I've got an idea on how we can win." She pushed away an urge to touch his hand, wanting him to acknowledge her gratitude for what he'd just done for her.

"What is it?" He faced her with an intent stare.

"The Leviathan."

"They weren't there in the first place?" His eyes narrowed once more. "Where were they, on a vacation? Did I _not_ employ them for use?"

"I should have noticed..." She looked down, ashamed and quite frankly embarrassed. "I- I guess I forgot."

"It's not your fault..." He stepped towards her. "But, tell me, how will a couple thousand Leviathan overpower tens of thousands of demons? And how in the _bloody_ hell did he get that many demons, last time I checked he didn't have many more than us."

Lauren breathed in deeply before responding. "Leviathan are strong and nearly impossible to kill, and I don't know. It's... worrying."

"Agreed." Crowley stayed solemn, angry. "Go get the chompers and put half of them out there to start." He was no battle strategist, but he knew enough to not waste the one chip he had left in the game. She gulped, pushing a hand through her hair.

"Yes sir." She mumbled, disappearing to follow his instructions to the letter. She felt like she'd seriously screwed up, and it hurt her pride more than anything else. When she arrived, the demons all looked to her with wide eyes, the forces nearly breaking their last line of defense.

Lauren glanced around, her eyes dark and fiery. She stayed silent, watching quietly and hoping she didn't have another... whatever it was. Panic attack? Mental breakdown?

"Ma'am?" Abdiel stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, standing a bit too close. "What are your orders?"

Lauren instantly flinched away from him. "Um.." She gulped down the panic rising once again in her throat.

He looked at her intently, awaiting an answer.

"Just... make sure they're all dead." She knew how lame it sounded, yet she couldn't think of anything better, the invisible walls closing in on her once more.

Abdiel looked puzzled, angry. "We're about to lose our base command, and you tell us to make sure they're all dead?" The forces were getting closer, thousands of blood spattered demons a ominous sight in the twilight of the day.

"I- I don't- I can't- Can't you ask Crowley?" Lauren was nearing hysteria now, because her mind was far away, her sanity breaking under the crushing weight of her tortured memories. "I don't know what to do!"

Crowley suddenly zapped to the tent, he had been monitoring her actions in case of this very scenario. Seeing her hysteria, he snapped her away, back to his office, and turned to face the battle. "The Leviathan will fight this battle, you are in command of them now, Abdiel." He commanded loudly, snapping the three thousand Leviathan around the command post.

The demon grumbled a 'yes sir' and began barking out orders to the angry looking creatures.

* * *

Lauren slumped backwards, knees giving out. She collapsed onto the wall to press the heels of her hands into her eyes, shaking violently, thousands of images running through her brain, hallucinations surrounding her. She didn't exactly know what had brought it on, or what had triggered her, all she knew is that she was completely and utterly lost, lost in her own self.

* * *

**((Hello lovelies! Sorry for the late chapter, I've been very busy lately. I'll try to be more constant in my updates, however, and hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know the story's been a bit draggy lately, but the action will begin to pick up again in the next couple of chapters. Thank you all again for the reads and reviews, I cannot tell you how much they truly mean to me!))**


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